Tim Burton is bringing the Addams Family back to life once more with a new Netflix series called Wednesday and has chosen Catherine Zeta-Jones to take on the role of Morticia.
The eight-episode series is described as a sleuthing, supernaturally-infused mystery that centres around Wednesday Addams’ years as a student at Nevermore Academy.
Wednesday attempts to master her emerging psychic ability, thwart a monstrous killing spree that has terrorised the local town and solve the supernatural mystery that embroiled her parents 25 years ago — all while navigating her new and very tangled relationships at Nevermore.
Zeta-Jones will feature as a guest star on the show, which sees Jenna Ortega take on the title role. Luis Guzman will play the patriarch of the family — Gomez Addams.
The Addams Family was first created in 1938 by cartoonist Charles Addams, intended as a satirical version of the ideal 20th-century American family. The cartoon first appeared in The New Yorker, and the characters have since appeared in numerous film and television shows, starting in 1964 with a live-action television series.
A series of films featuring the eccentric family were released in the 90s, with The Addams Family in 1991 and Addams Family Values 1993. Angelica Houston played the role of Morticia in the films, while Christina Ricci portrayed Wednesday and Raul Julia inhabited Gomez. Both films earned nominations for Academy Awards and BAFTA Awards, while Huston was twice nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress.
The franchise also spawned a Broadway musical, which opened in 2010 and was nominated for two Tony Awards.
Given Tim Burton’s penchant for the delightfully macabre (see: Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, The Nightmare Before Christmas et al), it seems almost bizarre that the acclaimed director and producer hasn’t pounced on The Addams Family IP before now. He will both direct and executive produce Wednesday.
For her part, Zeta-Jones is an Oscar winner who won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 2003, for her incredible performance as Velma Kelly in Chicago — a role for which she also received the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Motion Picture Musical or Comedy.
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