Greta Gerwig's 'Little Women:' See Saoirse Ronan, Meryl Streep and Emma Watson in First Trailer (Video)

The cast that director Greta Gerwig has assembled for her take on “Little Women” makes it look like the Avengers of 18th-century novel adaptations.

Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Florence Pugh and Eliza Scanlen star as the March sisters Jo, Meg, Amy and Beth, respectively, and that young cast is joined by Laura Dern as their mother Marmee March, Meryl Streep as their Aunt March and Timothée Chalamet as the charming love interest Laurie.

On Tuesday, we finally get to see them all together as Sony has released the colorful and lush first trailer for the awards hopeful drama that’s set to open in theaters on Christmas of this year.

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“Little Women” follows the four teenage sisters and their mother during Civil War-era Massachusetts as it charts their coming of age from childhood to womanhood, navigating a new home, true love and their first holiday without their pastor father.

While the film is still set in the Civil War era, Gerwig has made important updates from the already numerous film adaptations of Louisa May Alcott’s beloved 1868 American novel. Namely, Gerwig’s script incorporates details from Alcott’s personal letters and diaries that help to explore more modern ideas about gender and sexuality that the novel only hints at, specifically in the portrayal of Ronan and Chalamet’s characters.

“They find each other before they’ve committed to a gender,” Gerwig told Vanity Fair in June. “It wouldn’t be wrong to call Saoirse handsome and Timothée beautiful. Both have a slightly androgynous quality that makes them perfect for these characters.”

Also Read: 'Lady Bird' Director Greta Gerwig on Focusing on a Female Protagonist Who Doesn't Need a Guy

The two are reuniting after making sparks in Gerwig’s directorial debut “Lady Bird,” and Ronan explained how she loved turning the tables on their relationship this time around.

“I loved that in ‘Lady Bird,’ he was the one that broke my heart, but I got to break his heart in ‘Little Women,'” Ronan told Vanity Fair.

The staggering cast for “Little Women” also includes Bob Odenkirk, Chris Cooper, James Norton, Louis Garrel and Abby Quinn. Watch the first trailer for the film above.

All 18 Oscar Best Picture Nominees Directed by a Woman, From 'The Piano' to 'The Power of the Dog' (Photos)

In the history of the Academy Awards, only seven women have gotten a Best Director nomination. But a dozen-plus films with a female director have scored Best Picture nods -- particularly since the Academy expanded the lead category to include more than five nominees.
Randa Haines' "Children of a Lesser God" (1986) • Haines' drama about a teacher at a school for the deaf earned five nominations, and won one for Marlee Matlin's breakout lead performance. But Haines herself didn't get a nod.
Paramount
Penny Marshall's "Awakenings" (1990) • The Robert De Niro-Robin Williams medical drama picked up three nods, including for Steven Zaillian's script -- but no love for Marshall.
Columbia Pictures
Barbra Streisand's "The Prince of Tides" (1991) • The directing snub for Streisand, who also produced and starred in this tear-jerking drama, prompted that year's Oscar host, Billy Crystal, to quip: "Seven nominations on the shelf, did this film direct itself?" (It went home with no trophies.)
Columbia Pictures
Jane Campion's "The Piano" (1993) • Campion became only the second woman nominated as Best Director (after Lina Wertmuller) and took home an Oscar for her screenplay. The film earned eight nominations in total, and won three -- including for Holly Hunter and Anna Paquin.
Miramax
Sofia Coppola's "Lost in Translation" (2003) • Coppola's two-hander earned four nominations in all. While she did earn a directing nomination, like Campion she was only rewarded for her screenplay.
Focus Features
Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris' "Little Miss Sunshine" (2006) • Once again, this oddball family dramedy earned a Best Picture nod but nothing for its co-directors. The film took home two Oscars in all, for supporting actor Alan Arkin and screenwriter Michael Arndt, out of four total nominations.
Fox Searchlight
Kathryn Bigelow's "The Hurt Locker" (2009) • Bigelow's war drama earned nine nominations and took home six awards -- including Best Picture. She also became the first woman to win Best Director (and beat her ex-husband and "Avatar" auteur James Cameron).
Summit
Lone Scherfig's "An Education" (2009) • In the first year in which the Academy expanded the Best Picture field to 10, Scherfig's British indie scored three nominations, including for its breakout star, Carey Mulligan.
Sony Classics
Lisa Cholodenko's "The Kids Are All Right" (2010) • Cholodenko's drama about a long-standing lesbian couple picked up four nominations, including for actors Annette Bening and Mark Ruffalo. But the Academy showed no love for Cholodenko's direction.
Focus Features
Debra Granik's "Winter's Bone" (2010) • Jennifer Lawrence earned her first Oscar nomination for her breakout role in this indie, which picked up a total of four nominations.
Roadside Attractions
Kathryn Bigelow's "Zero Dark Thirty" (2012) • Bigelow's Gulf War drama snagged five nominations -- though not for directing -- but only took home a prize for its sound editing.
Columbia Pictures
Ava DuVernay's "Selma" (2014) • DuVernay's Martin Luther King Jr. biopic picked up two nominations, and won Best Original Song for Common and John Legend's stirring "Glory."
Paramount
Greta Gerwig's "Lady Bird" (2017) • Gerwig's feature directorial debut earned five nominations, including for Gerwig's screenplay and directing, but went home empty-handed.
Greta Gerwig's "Little Women" (2019) • Two years later, Gerwig returned to the race with her adaptation of the Louisa May Alcott classic -- though she lost out on a directing nomination. (The film did win Best Costume Design.)
Sony
Chloé Zhao's "Nomadland" (2020) • Chloé Zhao's film earned six nominations -- including four for the Chinese-born filmmaker herself as producer, writer, director and editor.
Searchlight
Emerald Fennell's "Promising Young Woman" (2020) • The actress' debut feature as a director earned five nominations, including for Fennell's directing and her screenplay.
Focus Features
Sian Heder's "CODA" (2021) • Sian Heder earned nominations for both her indie film and co-writing the script of the story about a hearing child of deaf parents.
Apple
Jane Campion's "The Power of the Dog" (2021) • Campion became the first woman to earn two directing nominations for her work on this Western, which nabbed 12 nominations overall.
Netflix

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Sian Heder and Jane Campion’s new films join the elite list

In the history of the Academy Awards, only seven women have gotten a Best Director nomination. But a dozen-plus films with a female director have scored Best Picture nods -- particularly since the Academy expanded the lead category to include more than five nominees.

View In Gallery

All 18 Oscar Best Picture Nominees Directed by a Woman, From 'The Piano' to 'The Power of the Dog' (Photos)

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