As Greta Gerwig’s adaptation of C.S. Lewis’ beloved book series The Chronicles of Narnia marches toward production, the director is in talks with Netflix regarding a massive IMAX rollout for the film. Is the studio’s age of extremely limited theatrical windows coming to an end? Also, California Governor Gavin Newsom hopes to reopen the chapter of competitive tax incentives for productions in the golden state. As always, Kim Masters and Matt Belloni are your trusty guides through another whirlwind week in Hollywood.
Netflix & IMAX? Even among model shifts at Netflix, the streamer’s profoundly limited stance when it comes to theatrical releases has held strong. But that might soon change as Netflix has entered into preliminary conversations for Greta Gerwig’s Narnia adaptation to have an IMAX release spanning thousands of screens. These discussions are coming off the heels of the director’s massive box office success with Barbie. Could this open the door to other filmmakers making similar requests? “I just don’t think you can do it for her and not do it for others,” says Masters.
Tax credits to the rescue? On the production front, Governor Gavin Newsom has proposed new legislation to boost tax credits to keep Hollywood productions in Hollywood (and its surrounding areas). This would double production tax credits in California from $300 million to $750 million in an effort to address the high costs and faltering employment in the town. “There's a lot of things they have to work out, but in general it seems like this is a pretty major step,” says Belloni.
International affairs? Not only is California competing with other states for productions, but some international players are contributing to the Hollywood deficit. The limited caps in the UK have appealed to Disney’s Star Wars franchise and Europe has even added infrastructure to sustain production that used to be in California. This is causing increased disruption to the lives of LA-based workers who need to travel and separate from family for roles that used to be local. “For the best crews, the best sound stages, [and] the best infrastructure, you had to be in California — that's no longer the case,” says Belloni.