ANNE Grabs The Spotlight

The first full-length trailer was released yesterday for the upcoming Netflix series, Anne, an adaptation of L.M. Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables.

Emmy-winning writer Moira Walley-Beckett (Breaking Bad) is the showrunner and newcomer Amybeth McNulty plays the title role. R.H. Thomson (Chloe) and Geraldine James (Sherlock Holmes) play Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert. The eight-episode version starts streaming on May 12.

Although it’s set at the turn of the century, Netflix says the series will speak to today’s kids, as it deals with “timeless and topical issues including themes of identity, feminism, bullying and prejudice.”

This is expected to be the first of several seasons. Walley-Beckett tells CBC that “the series producers have a five-year plan that would take Anne right through her high school years.”

That red-haired girl has had a recent spurt of popularity. A series of film adaptations of her story have also been completed, starring Martin Sheen as Matthew, Sara Botsford as Marilla, and Ella Ballentine as Anne. The first of those films debuted on Thanksgiving on PBS. At that time, Sheen told Entertainment Weekly that he hoped PBS would pick up the two sequels. The second has been released in Canada an the third is scheduled, but no US release has yet been announced.

There are no direct tie-ins but the public domain title is available from several publishers.

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