There's been a lot happening on the Little Women front in recent months. The BBC released a TV version of the beloved Louisa May Alcott book back in 2017, and it aired on PBS in the U.S. more recently. That won't be the end of Little Women in pop culture, however. A modern retelling of the classic starring Lea Thompson is hitting theaters in time for the book's 150th anniversary this year. Now, a classic version of the movie has also been commissioned by Columbia Pictures, and the new movie looks as if it will star some A-List talent. In addition to Florence Pugh, Meryl Streep, Emma Stone, Saoirse Ronan and Timothee Chalamet are in talks to star in the upcoming movie. Lady Bird's Greta Gerwig is likely to also sign on as the director of the new project, as well.
Currently, talks are still ongoing regarding who will join the project, and the potential casting announcement doesn't list anyone for specific roles. However, you'd have to think that Meryl Streep would be signing on to play Marmee, as she's a little young to be playing the Aunt March character. Timothee Chalamet would have to be signed on as Laurie given the availability of characters and their ages, as well. (One could hardly see him as a Professor Bhaer.)
While Variety broke the news, other outlets are mentioning Emma Stone would play Meg, which would make sense given Emma Stone's age compared to the other two young women who are involved. It's also being noted that Florence Pugh would play Amy and Saoirse Ronan would play Jo, meaning sweet, ill Beth has yet to be cast. So far, the ages of those being cast are a little bit older than I would expect. Each of the girls are teenagers at the start of the book and grow into adulthood through the end. For example, Meg is 16 and Jo is 15 at the start of the book. That's always going to be little tricky to achieve on the big screen, but Emma Stone is already nearing 30 and Saoirse Ronan is currently 24. Hollywood ages down older actors and actresses quite frequently, but I'll be interested to see if and how the story is different with older actresses in the major roles.
Obviously, talks are still ongoing, but we'll let you know as soon as the final versions of the casts come together. Little Women doesn't currently have a release date, but the last time the novel was brought to life on the big screen was back in 1994. That film starred Winona Ryder, Kirsten Dunst, Claire Danes, Christian Bale and Susan Sarandon, and was the prominent way people came to know about the famous Louisa May Alcott story for a whole generation of fans. Remakes are nothing new, and this new version should bring the story to life for a whole new generation of fans. We just need to wait and see who will be playing Beth and, of course, Friedrich Bhaer, first.
For now, if you'd like to see the most recent version of Little Women, the made-for-TV version starred Angela Lansbury, Michael Gambon, Maya Hawke, Kathryn Newton, Willa Fitzgerald, Annes Elwy and Emily Watson. You can catch it on Blu-ray, DVD, or Digital in the States thanks to a Masterpiece release, here.
