Sony has released an official trailer for Greta Gerwig’s Little Women adaptatation. After cutting her teeth (and picking up acclaim) as a writer and actor on films like Frances Ha and Mistress America, Gerwig made the jump to feature directing in 2017 with Lady Bird. The semi-autobiographical dramedy ultimately landed Gerwig Oscar nominations for her writing and directing, and led to Sony hiring her to helm Little Women in 2018 (having already recruited her to revise the script two years earlier).

The eighth film adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s classic novel overall, Little Women follows the March sisters - Jo (Saoirse Ronan), Meg (Emma Watson), Beth (Florence Pugh), and Amy (Eliza Scanlen) - as they come of age in New England in the immediate aftermath of the U.S. Civil War. Ronan isn’t the only Lady Bird veteran who appears in the movie either; she’s joined by Timothée Chalamet, who plays Jo’s friend since childhood, Theodore “Laurie” Laurence, in this particular retelling. Other major supporting cast members include Laura Dern as Marmee March, Bob Odenkirk as Mr. March, and Meryl Streep as the March sisters’ aunt.

Much to the relief of those awaiting a better look at the film, the Little Women trailer officially dropped online today. You can check it out in the space below.

In a previously-released interview that included the film’s first-look images, Gerwig talked about her approach to Alcott’s source material and how she related to it personally, as though it were her own biography. The filmmaker and her Oscar-winning costume designer Jacqueline Durran (who previously worked on Joe Wright’s Pride & Prejudice and Anna Karenina adaptations) took inspiration from paintings of the era in which Little Women was written - like Winslow Homer’s 1870 work “High Tide” - in crafting the cast’s costumes, as well as the gentler colors of the movie’s cinematography. Gerwig’s film will differ from previous adaptations in other areas too, including the way it explores gender and romantic attraction by incorporating details from Alcott’s real-life letters and diaries.

Judging by the trailer, Gerwig has succeeded in making Little Women feel like a continuation of her previous work, even with the obvious difference in time period. That it looks unique is all the more impressive, considering how many adaptations, retellings, and re-imaginings of Alcott’s original coming of age story have already been produced over the past century. Sony is banking on Gerwig’s Little Women and Marielle Heller’s Fred Rogers drama, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, being strong contenders in this year’s awards race and for fair reason, based on the early marketing for both films. Who knows, Gerwig and Heller alike may yet find themselves in the Best Director contest for 2020 (with Gerwig repeating after being in the running two years earlier for Lady Bird).

Source: Sony Pictures

  • Little Women Release Date: 2019-12-25