God, it must be nice to be rich. Sprawling estates, private beaches, and psychologically manipulative housekeepers; that's the life. The first trailer for Ben Wheatley's (FREE FIRE) adaptation of Daphne du Maurier's "Rebecca" has been released and it looks pretty damn impressive. The film stars Lily James (YESTERDAY) as a young newlywed who arrives at her husband's (Armie Hammer) imposing family estate on a windswept English coast and finds herself battling the shadow of his first wife Rebecca, whose legacy lives on in the house long after her death. REBECCA also stars Kristin Scott Thomas, Keeley Hawes, Ann Dowd, Sam Riley, and more.
The novel was famously adapted by Alfred Hitchcock in 1940, but Ben Wheatley recently said that his version of REBECCA should not be considered a remake of Hitchcock's film. "It’s not, in any sense, a remake of the Hitchcock film," Wheatley said. "Firmly not. Remaking a film is not that interesting to me, but the original source material is. I watched all the adaptations. It’s important to see what’s gone before, but that’s certainly not the focus." The director added that he "wanted to make something that had more love in it. It’s part of trying to investigate other parts of being human. Rebecca has dark elements, and it has a psychological, haunting story within it, but it’s also about these two people in love. That was the main thing."
The official synopsis for REBECCA:
After a whirlwind romance in Monte Carlo with handsome widower Maxim de Winter (Armie Hammer), a newly married young woman (Lily James) arrives at Manderley, her new husband's imposing family estate on a windswept English coast. Naive and inexperienced, she begins to settle into the trappings of her new life, but finds herself battling the shadow of Maxim's first wife, the elegant and urbane Rebecca, whose haunting legacy is kept alive by Manderley's sinister housekeeper Mrs. Danvers (Kristin Scott Thomas). Directed by Ben Wheatley (High Rise, Free Fire) and produced by Working Title Films (Emma, Darkest Hour), REBECCA is a mesmerizing and gorgeously rendered psychological thriller based on Daphne du Maurier's beloved 1938 gothic novel.
REBECCA will debut on Netflix on October 21, 2020.