Greta Gerwig to direct 'Little Women' with Meryl Streep, Emma Stone, Saoirse Ronan and Timothée Chalamet
Following the unprecedented success of comedy-drama 'Lady Bird,' Greta Gerwig is set to return to the director's chair for a movie adaptation of Louisa May Alcott's revered classic novel 'Little Women.' The project is still very much in the embryonic stage but, according to Variety, big names such as Meryl Streep, Emma Stone, Saoirse Ronan, Florence Pugh, and Timothee Chalamet are in talks to appear in the film.
Ronan's and Chalamet's willingness to sign for the project should not come as too much of a surprise. The former starred in the leading role of Catholic high school student Christine 'Lady Bird' McPherson in 'Lady Bird,' and walked away with the Golden Globe for Best Actress — Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for the role, while the latter's Kyle Scheible featured as her love-interest and drew similar plaudits.
The casting process is still in its initial stages and it is unclear what roles the actors will be playing in the movie, though Variety cites numerous sources to report that, at this stage, a handful of actresses are expected to audition for the role of Elizabeth March opposite Stone before the fourth of July celebrations convene throughout the country.
Gerwig was said to have initially been brought on to rewrite the draft for the movie but has since been promoted to a directorial role following the reception that 'Lady Bird' received at the box office — it grossed $76 million on a paltry $10 million budget — and from critics, who praised as 'big-screen perfection.'
'Little Women' follows four teenage sisters — Josephine, Margaret, Amy, and Elizabeth March — and their mother, Marmee, who live in Massachusetts in 'genteel poverty' during the times of the American Civil War, and their journey into adulthood.
The book has been adapted for cinema several times, twice as a silent film in 1917 and 1918, and then four times with sound in 1933, 1949, 1978, and 1994. The 1994 adaptation was directed by Gillian Armstrong and featuring names such as Winona Ryder, Kirsten Dunst, and Christian Bale, it was a success critically and commercially.
It has also been made into television series on six separate occasions, including four by the BBC in 1950, 1958, 1970, and 2017. In 2018, PBS adapted it into a TV show as well. Furthermore, two anime series were made in Japan during the 1980s and a musical version opened on Broadway in 2005.
Gerwig's 'Little Women' will be made under the umbrella of Colombia Pictures and has supposedly been in the works at the studio for quite some time. Amy Pascal (Spider-Man: Homecoming, Molly's Game, The Post) is set to produce alongside Denise Di Novi and Robin Swicord, who worked together for the 1994 movie adaptation of the novel. Andrea Giannetti is overseeing the production for Colombia Pictures.