Film-to-stage adaptations are all the rage. In recent months, theatre adaptations of Dr. Strangelove, The Devil Wears Prada, the Hunger Games, Withnail and I, Cruel Intentions and Minority Report have all been announced.
And then there is one of Netflix's hottest properties, Stranger Things, which opens in London next month. Now, according to Deadline, another of the streamer's hits is heading to the stage: chess drama The Queen's Gambit, based on Walter Tevis’ 1983 best-selling novel.
This new show, which is currently in early development, has Oscar nominated singer-songwriter Mitski attached to write the music and lyrics, playwright Eboni Booth on the book, and it will be directed by Whitney White.
“The Queen’s Gambit is a wholly original story about yearning for connection and finding your way in life, no matter the barriers,” said Booth. “I couldn’t be more thrilled to explore this world in the company of such extraordinary artists."
The Queen's Gambit is about an orphan in Fifties Kentucky who happens to be a chess prodigy. The novel, like the hit series, follows Elizabeth Harmon as she grows up, wins competitions, gets adopted, and copes with drug and alcohol issues.
Director White said: "Everyone has desires, hopes, aspirations, and ideas about who they are and what they can offer the world. The Queen’s Gambit takes us into a story of a brilliant young woman on the hunt for all these things. It is a story that feels like mine and I’m excited to be a part of this exceptional team creating it anew for the stage.”
Information about the film's cast, its wider creative team, and the theatre that will host the new musical, are still to be announced, but this hasn't stopped fans of the series and of musician Mitski from getting excited.
"Mitski fans are getting fed!" said one fan on X. "AHHHHHHHH," said another.
American singer-songwriter Mitski, who has released seven albums, co-wrote the track This Is a Life for Everything Everywhere All At Once. It won the singer an Oscar-nomination for Best Original Song.
The Queen's Gambit was turned into a Netflix series in 2020 and became one of the streamer's biggest-ever hits. Starring Anya Taylor-Joy as Beth Harmon, today the seven-parter is still the fifth most-watched English-language series on Netflix, with over 112 million viewers.
Stage adaptations can be huge money makers: Harry Potter on the Cursed Child, which premiered in 2016, received a flurry of awards, toured the world, and is still running now, over 1,000performances later.
