The trailer for Greta Gerwig’s Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew is surprising for a lot of reasons—not least of which are its psychedelic visuals—but even among all the whimsical imagery, one thing feels especially impossible: it’s set to Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven.”
It’s not an exaggeration to call “Stairway to Heaven” one of the most famous and well-regarded rock songs of all time, and Led Zeppelin have been extremely protective of it since its release in 1971. According to Consequence of Sound, this is the first time the band has ever licensed the song. So how did Gerwig manage it?
During a trailer premiere event, Gerwig told Stephen Colbert that she simply showed vocalist Robert Plant and guitarist Jimmy Page the film and shared her vision for it with them. “It’s an epic song that’s about a spiritual journey,” Gerwig said, according to Gold Derby. “That’s also the story of this movie. I showed them [the film] and talked to them about it, and they both love C.S. Lewis. The whole thing was very fortuitous.” According to the Hollywood Reporter, Gerwig said Plant and Page “…saw the heart of the film.”
We’ve known for a little while now that Gerwig’s take on Narnia would be inspired by British rock and roll of the 1960s and ’70s, but it’s intriguing to see just how literal that inspiration is. “I wanted a rock opera,” Gerwig said back in September, and that’s exactly what the trailer feels like.
The fact that Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew is special enough that it convinced Plant and Page to license “Stairway to Heaven” for the first time is a pretty huge endorsement of the film’s quality. We’ll see if it can live up to those high expectations when it releases in theaters on February 12, 2027, and on Netflix on April 2, 2027.
Want more io9 news? Check out the best movies and TV shows to stream this month and all the upcoming sci-fi, fantasy, and horror books that should be on your radar.
