From ONCE I WAS A BEEHIVE to LITTLE WOMEN; a modern retelling of a classic by the creators of memorable Mormon cinema

Clare Niederpruem directs this new, independent version of Little Women. Niederpruem also will be credited as co-author as she worked on the modern-day adaptation with her writing partner Kristi Shimek. You might remember both of these names from ONCE I WAS A BEEHIVE, which is now on Netflix.

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Susan Sarandon, Kristen Dunst, and Winona Ryder in Little Women

Do you remember that open casting call for online auditions for LITTLE WOMEN?

Well, apparently most, if not all, of the main parts have now been filled.

Gregory Wakeman at Cineblend recently published on the latest happenings of LITTLE WOMEN, a modern-day retelling of Louisa May Alcott’s classic novel Little Women, that star Lea Thompson has agreed to anchor from an acting perspective.

Wakeman revealed that Thompson will reteam with her Switched at Birth co-star Lucas Grabeel. Deadline also announced Thompson had signed on.

She will take the role of the family matriarch Marmee, while Lucas Grabeel will play Laurie.

2018 is the anticipated released date for the film, as the novel Little Women was released 150 years prior.

Clare Niederpruem directs this new, independent version of Little Women. Niederpruem also will be credited as co-author as she worked on the modern-day adaptation with her writing partner Kristi Shimek. You might remember both of these names from ONCE I WAS A BEEHIVE, which is now on Netflix.

Deadline has confirmed that Paulist Productions and Main Dog Productions are the two parties that have come together to co-produce and co-finance the film. Per Deadline, “Paulist sought out a partnership with Nelson after seeing the theatrical success of his last two independent features, Once I Was a Beehive and the Saratov Approach, which was distributed Purdie Distribution.”

Principal photography is due to begin in Utah in June 2017.

Wakeman’s article give us some background behind this endeavor and the Little Women franchise:

Little Women revolves around Marmee and her four daughters Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy. Marmee helps to guide her daughters through the heartbreaks and struggles of their adolescence and then into adulthood. Originally written by Louisa May Alcott, Little Women was published in two volumes in 1868 and 1869, and it was loosely based on the author and her relationship with her three sisters. A huge critical and commercial success upon its release, Little Women’s legacy has endured for close to 150 years, leading to two cinematic adaptations during the silent era, while there have been four more versions with sound.

Each film has featured some very heavy hitters, too. The 1933 version was directed by George Cukor and starred Katherine Hepburn, while 1949’s featured Elizabeth Taylor, Janet Leigh and Peter Lawford, and was directed by Mervyn LeRoy. But it is the 1994 version that has proven to be the most beloved. Winona Ryder, Kirsten Dunst, Claire Danes and Trini Alvarado played Jo, Amy, Beth, and Meg, respectively, Susan Sarandon portrayed Mamee, and the film proved to be a huge success, grossing $50 million over Christmas 1994, and it still has a 90% score on Rotten Tomatoes. It even received three Academy Award nominations.

Obviously the success of Little Women means that there’s quite a bit of pressure on Clare Niederpruem and her team to at least match its predecessor, which is why it will be of the upmost importance for the director to find the perfect posse of young female leads to play the roles of Meg, Job, Beth and Amy.