Greta Gerwig may be following up her new classic “Lady Bird” with an old classic. The Oscar-nominated helmer is eyeing “Little Women” as her next directing job, Variety reports. And it gets better. Major star power is circling the story of the March family: Meryl Streep, Emma Stone, Saoirse Ronan, Florence Pugh (“Lady Macbeth”), and Timothee Chalamet are in talks to star in Columbia Pictures’ take on Louisa May Alcott’s beloved novel about sisters Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy.
A coming-of-age story, the novel follows the girls as they battle societal expectations, love, and loss on their journey to womanhood under the guidance of their mother, best known as Marmee, while their father is away fighting in the Civil War.
It’s unclear who is circling which roles, but it seems likely that Streep would play Marmee and Chalamet Laurie, the boy next door.
Gerwig has been linked to the project since August 2016. She was originally hired to rewrite a draft of the script. “Following ‘Lady Bird’s’ success, Sony amped up pre-production in order to woo Gerwig into picking this as her next movie,” the source reveals. If Ronan and Chalamet sign on to the project, they’ll be re-teaming with Gerwig, who directed them in “Lady Bird,” her solo directorial debut.
Amy Pascal, Denise Di Novi, and Robin Swicord are producing the pic.
“Little Women” has been adapted for the big screen several times, most recently in 1994 by screenwriter Swicord and director Gillian Armstrong. The star-studded cast included Winona Ryder, Susan Sarandon, Kirsten Dunst, Claire Danes, and Christian Bale. Katharine Hepburn and June Allyson starred in the 1933 and 1949 film versions of the story, respectively. BBC aired a miniseries based on the book in 2017. Heidi Thomas (“Call the Midwife”) penned the script and Vanessa Caswill (“Thirteen”) directed.
A modern retelling, directed by Clare Niederpruem and starring Lea Thompson, is slated to hit theaters September 28.