Led Zeppelin let a remixed “Stairway to Heaven” score the first trailer for Greta Gerwig's Narnia: The Magician's Nephew, released October 13, 2026. Gerwig met Robert Plant and Jimmy Page in person to win it. Whether the song is in the film itself has not been confirmed.
That last point matters. What Netflix has shown so far is a trailer for a $280 million film that opens in theaters on February 12, 2027 and lands on the streamer on April 2, according to the Associated Press. Stereogum, which described the track as a remix, wrote plainly that “we don't yet know whether ‘Stairway To Heaven’ appears in the actual Narnia movie.” Louder called it “heavily remixed.”
Is this really the first time?
Gizmodo, citing Consequence, reported that this is the first time the band has ever licensed the song, and MusicRadar wrote that Zeppelin had never before allowed it in a film. That claim has fine print. The song has been in cinemas before: Zeppelin performed it in their own 1976 concert film The Song Remains the Same. Stereogum also points to a scene in the second season of Amazon's Outer Range where two characters recite the lyrics to each other, “but maybe that doesn't count.” None of the coverage we read documents a third-party film licensing the recording before now.
The refusals, by contrast, are well documented.
| When | Project | What happened |
|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Wayne's World | The opening notes were cut from home video and foreign releases; the chord came back on the 2022 4K release |
| Season 7 | The Simpsons, “Bart Sells His Soul” | Rights out of reach on cost; the show used “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” |
| 2000 | Almost Famous | A filmed scene built around the full song was cut after the band said no |
| Undated | Stranger Things | Request denied, per Stereogum |
| 2026 | Narnia: The Magician's Nephew | Yes, for a remixed version in the trailer |
Why did Almost Famous get Zeppelin but not “Stairway”?
Cameron Crowe's case is the instructive one, because the band liked him. Crowe shot a scene in which William plays his mother, Frances McDormand, all eight minutes of the song. Rolling Stone reported that Led Zeppelin denied the use of “Stairway” but gave Crowe “Bron-Yr-Aur,” “That's the Way,” “Tangerine,” “Misty Mountain Hop” and “The Rain Song.”
‘Stairway to Heaven’ was off the table because the band just didn't want to touch it. That song, they felt, had ascended to some other place… it lived in its own world.Cameron Crowe, to Vanity Fair in 2015, as quoted by Ultimate Classic Rock
So the rule was never “no Zeppelin in movies.” Louder lists Argo and The Big Short using “When the Levee Breaks” and Thor: Ragnarok using “Immigrant Song.” The rule was “not that one.” Former Simpsons writer Josh Weinstein said the rights were “too much $!”, but Crowe, a friend of the band, could not get them at all.
What changed: a director in the room
Variety reported, as relayed by Louder and Guitar Player, that Gerwig wrote to Page and Plant and showed them an early cut. At the New York trailer launch with Stephen Colbert, she explained why it worked.
They did it because they saw the heart in the story. And they, too, love C.S. Lewis.Greta Gerwig, at the New York launch, via the Associated Press
Page answered publicly. “I am thrilled that she chose Stairway To Heaven in the trailer for her film,” he said in a statement printed by Louder and Guitar Player, calling Gerwig “a switched-on creative.” Note his wording: the trailer.
The rule was never “no Zeppelin in movies.” It was “not that one,” until someone asked in person.
What it says about how catalog owners use sync
Three details here are a playbook. First, the license is for a trailer: a marketing window that puts the song in front of a global audience without, as far as anyone has confirmed, tying it into the finished film. Second, it is a remix, so the band keeps its 1971 recording intact while a new version does the selling. Third, by Gerwig's account, the yes went to a filmmaker with a creative argument, which keeps the song's scarcity, its real value, mostly intact.
That is the catalog business in 2026 in miniature. Old songs already dominate listening, as our look at catalog's 45.1% share of Spotify's global chart streams showed, and rights holders are getting more deliberate about who runs their songs, as in My Chemical Romance's new Warner Chappell admin deal. Zeppelin spent decades proving that a no can be worth more than a fee. The next thing to watch is February 12: whether “Stairway” plays in the theater, or stays a trailer song.