When Netflix released the trailer for The Chronicles of Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew, many recognized the song that accompanied the imagery, which is surely one of the most beautiful pieces ever written. It is Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin, the fourth track on the band’s fourth studio album, titled Led Zeppelin IV and released in 1971. Perhaps not everyone knows that many filmmakers asked Robert Plant & Co. for permission to use the song, only to be immediately turned down. Among them Cameron Crowe during the making of Almost Famous. The only one in the past who managed to secure a gracious concession from Led Zeppelin for a piece was Jack Black for School of Rock; however, it wasn’t Stairway to Heaven but Immigrant Song. Returning to the adaptation of the eponymous novel by C.S. Lewis within the imaginary universe of The Chronicles of Narnia, and which in the saga precedes The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the director explained how she managed to obtain the track:
I showed them the film and spoke with Robert Plant and Jimmy Page, and the fact that they agreed to let me use the song really moved me. They did it because they saw in the film the heart of the book. They too love C.S. Lewis and have a reverence for his works. It all happened by chance, but I am absolutely thrilled to have their song.
The Gerwig added that Stairway to Heaven tells the story of the film exactly:
It’s a wonderful song because it tells a story. It speaks of a spiritual journey. It speaks of the true path toward enlightenment and spirituality and of the journey made by false idols and the wrong roads one can take. I said (to Plant and Page): “This is precisely the story this film tells.” There truly is a spiritual quest, a spiritual journey, and therefore it was right to use the song to present all this, a track they hadn’t allowed anyone else to use.
With an IMAX release slated for February 12, 2027, Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew will arrive on Netflix on April 2. The film follows the adventures of two children named Digory (David McKenna) and Polly (Beatrice Campbell) who, while exploring the office of the former’s uncle (Daniel Craig), find themselves in a magical forest — the Forest of Mid — full of ponds. The ponds are portals to parallel worlds. One is the entrance to a ghost town whose queen (Emma Mackey) they awaken, who has slaughtered the entire population, and, without realizing it, she is freed onto the streets of London.
The latest film directed by Greta Gerwig was the box office champ Barbie. Previously the director had helmed Little Women and Lady Bird.
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