Get Your First Look at Amazon’s Lavish New ‘Vanity Fair’
Amazon Studios and British network ITV have released a first look at their lavish new adaptation of William Makepeace Thackeray’s classic novel Vanity Fair.
The 1848 novel follows the saga of Becky Sharp, a surprisingly modern heroine who uses her wits to fight her way out of poverty and climb the heights of upper class English society. This journey involves everything from falling in love to cheating to dancing to breaking hearts, and will take her all the way to King George IV’s court. (Gaining and losing several fortunes along the way.)
Actress Olivia Cooke, most recently seen in Ready Player One and likely best known for her role on A&E drama Bates Motel, stars as Becky. She’s joined by Tom Bateman as Captain Rawdon Crawley, along with an all-star ensemble that includes Suranne Jones, Martin Clunes, Jonny Flynn, Simon Russell Beale, Francis de la Tour, Michael Palin and more.
The first official teaser trailer offers nothing in the way of actual footage from the series, however. So don’t get your hopes up. It’s basically just 30 seconds of Cooke looking indomitable with her foot on the globe. However, this whole attitude is 100% Becky Sharp, which is at least a positive sign.
Watch for yourselves below:
(Is anybody else so ready for an actual trailer now? Just me?)
The seven-part drama is written by Gwyneth Hughes, who also penned recent PBS Masterpiece series Dark Angel and Remember Me. Mammoth Screen – also known as the folks behind Victoria and Poldark – are producers.
There have been a few adaptations of Thackeray’s most famous work on screens both large and small over the years. Most recently, the 2004 feature film starred Reese Witherspoon in the title role, but was otherwise generally unmemorable. And the BBC did attempt a television version in 1998 (which I have to admit, I haven’t seen).
Vanity Fair looks to be one of ITV’s main tentpoles for 2018 and is slated into a very vague “autumn” release date. Despite its literary pedigree, the splashy new series will not be airing on Masterpiece, but will come to America on Amazon’s Prime video streaming service. No word on a premiere date for that platform yet, either, but hopefully it won’t be too far behind the British broadcast.
Thoughts? Are you looking forward to a new Vanity Fair? Let’s discuss!
