Indie film star Greta Gerwig is taking over the screenwriting duties for Sony Pictures’ adaptation of “Little Women,” The Tracking Board reports.
As we previously reported, writer-director-actress Sarah Polley was originally writing the script. Sony’s Amy Pascal had made the “Little Women” remake one of her several female-centric film priorities. Pascal is joined on the producing team by Denise Di Novi as well as Robin Swicord, who was nominated for a WGA Award for her screenplay for the 1994 Gillian Armstrong-directed production, which starred Winona Ryder and Susan Sarandon.
Based on Louisa May Alcott’s novel, the story follows the four March sisters, Jo, Amy, Beth, and Meg, during the American Civil War throughout their adolescence and young adulthood. In 1933, the book was made into a film starring Katherine Hepburn as tomboy writer Jo, the same character played by Ryder in ’94. This will mark the seventh film adaptation of the much-beloved novel.
Gerwig most recently appeared in “Maggie’s Plan” and on “The Mindy Project.” She co-wrote the indie hit “Frances Ha,” in which she also starred. She is in development on a film called “Lady Bird,” which she is writing and directing, which will star Saoirse Ronan and mark Gerwig’s directorial debut.
There’s no word on why Polley dropped, but she’s no doubt busy working on Netflix’s six-hour miniseries based on Margaret Atwood’s “Alias Grace,” which she is writing and directing. There’s no word on a director for the “Little Women” project either, but here’s hoping this female-centric film will find a great woman to direct.