Matilda the Musical will reportedly make its way from the West End to the small screen in a new Netflix film adaptation.
The streaming service is thought to have partnered with Sony Pictures on a film version of the hit musical, based on Roald Dahl’s classic children’s tale of a gifted young girl who is mistreated by her parents but discovers she has special powers.
The musical, which features songs by Tim Minchin, has been running at the Cambridge Theatre in London since 2011 and was on Broadway from 2003 to 2017.
The Hollywood Reporter claims that the prospective film adaptation will have a full run in cinemas in the United Kingdom before streaming on Netflix around the world.
Pride director Matthew Warchus, who directed the stage show, is set to helm the film production, with Dennis Kelly, who won a Tony for adapting Dahl’s novel for the stage, writing the screenplay.
A casting call looking for girls aged nine to 11 to play the title role and for children aged nine to 13 to star as her classmates was recently posted online, and claims that the shoot will take place from August to December this year.
The original screen adaptation of Matilda premiered in 1996, with Mara Wilson in the lead role and Rhea Perlman and Danny DeVito, who also directed the film, as her ignorant parents.
Pam Ferris starred as the terrifying Miss Trunchbull, with Embeth Davidtz as Matilda’s kind teacher Miss Honey.
In 2018, Netflix announced that it would create a new range of animated series based on Dahl’s children’s stories, including The BFG, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and James and the Giant Peach, after partnering with the Roald Dahl Story Company.
