‘Little Women’ to Get Modern Retelling in New Film at Great American Family; Meet the Cast (EXCLUSIVE)

Great American Family is taking on the March family story.

“A Little Women’s Christmas,” the network’s first ensemble Christmas movie, is a contemporary retelling of Louisa May Alcott’s classic 1868 novel, starring Jillian Murray as Jo March, Trevor Donovan as Friedrich “Fritz” Baehr, Laura Osnes as Beth March, Jen Lilley as Meg March, Jesse Hutch as John Brooke and Julia Reilly as Amy March. Gladys Knight also stars and will perform her new original Christmas song, “Joy.”

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The movie will air during the fourth annual “Great American Christmas.” Previously announced other titles for their 2024 holiday slate include “Aurora Christmas,” “A Christmas Less Traveled,” “Love at the Kettle,” “My Grown-Up Christmas Wish,” “A Royal Christmas Ball” and “A Vintage Christmas.”

“‘A Little Women’s Christmas’ is a new Christmas classic in the making, with an incredible ensemble cast and an adaptation of an original story that is one of the best I have read,” says Great American Media president and CEO Bill Abbott. “Louisa May Alcott was intentional about focusing on the culture of young women, their hopes, ambitions, and dreams, and it remains one of the most widely read and beloved stories ever written.”

The film, directed by Brandon Clark, is written by Dione Sheehan and Taylor Bird. Executive Producers include Hutch, Knight, Clark, Brian Bird, Tai Truesdell, Darin Chavez, Brian Williams, Charly White, Lori Overholt, William McDowell and Joyce Miller Roy. “A Little Women’s Christmas” is produced by Rodney Eldredge, True Brand Entertainment, Third Coast Film and Empress of Soul Productions.

“Little Women” has been frequently adapted for both stage and screen. In 1933, Katharine Hepburn led the first sound adaptation of the film, followed by the first color adaptation with Elizabeth Taylor and Janet Leigh in 1949, which landed two Academy Award nominations and one win. In 1994, Gillian Armstrong directed a large ensemble led by Winona Ryder, Kirsten Dunst, Claire Danes, Susan Sarandon, Christian Bale and others, which landed three Oscar nominationss. In 2017 (and 2018 in the U.S.), the BBC and PBS’ Masterpiece turned Alcott’s novel into a TV series, led by Maya Hawke as Jo. Then, in 2019, Greta Gerwig’s “Little Women” became a box-office sensation, and was nominated for six Academy Awards.

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