'Little Women' Gets a Modern Retelling in a New Movie at Great American Family; Meet the Cast (EXCLUSIVE)

Great American Family is dedicated to the story of the March family.

“A Little Women's Christmas,” the network's first ensemble Christmas film, is a contemporary retelling of Louisa May Alcott's classic 1868 novel. The cast includes 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 sing her new Christmas song, “Joy.”

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The film will air during the fourth annual “Great American Christmas.” Previously announced titles for the 2024 Christmas schedule 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 holiday classic in the making, featuring an incredible ensemble cast and an adaptation of an original story that is one of the best I've ever read,” said Bill Abbott, president and CEO of Great American Media. “Louisa May Alcott deliberately focused 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 was directed by Brandon Clark and written by Dione Sheehan and Taylor Bird. Executive producers are 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 adapted frequently for stage and screen. In 1933, Katharine Hepburn directed the first sound adaptation of the film, followed by the first color adaptation starring Elizabeth Taylor and Janet Leigh in 1949, which earned two Oscar nominations and one Oscar win. In 1994, Gillian Armstrong directed a large ensemble cast led by Winona Ryder, Kirsten Dunst, Claire Danes, Susan Sarandon, Christian Bale and others, which earned three Oscar nominations. In 2017 (and 2018 in the U.S.), BBC and PBS' Masterpiece made a television series of Alcott's novel, starring Maya Hawke as Jo. Then in 2019, Greta Gerwig's Little Women became a box office hit and was nominated for six Oscars.

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