Anne going worldwide
TORONTO — Anne Shirley is going around the world.
Netflix says it will stream an upcoming new Anne of Green Gables adaptation, which will also air on CBC-TV and has several women at the helm.
Emmy Award-winner Moira Walley-Beckett is writing the entire first season of the new series called Anne, which will be based on Lucy Maud Montgomery’s classic novel.
Niki Caro will direct the two-hour series première, while Miranda de Pencier produces the show under her Northwood Entertainment banner.
The story features heroine Anne Shirley, an orphan teen in the 1890s who charms the elderly siblings she is mistakenly sent to live with in Prince Edward Island.
Netflix says Walley-Beckett will honour the foundation of the novel and also chart new territory, “reflecting timeless issues including themes of identity, sexism, bullying, prejudice, and trusting one’s self.”
“I adore Anne! Exploring and expanding her story with new depth for a new generation has been exhilarating!” Walley-Beckett said in a statement.
CBC greenlit the series, which will feature eight one-hour episodes, earlier this year. The show will stream globally on Netflix as it airs on CBC-TV in Canada next year. It will hit Netflix in Canada at a later date.
Production is scheduled to begin in September in Ontario.