Daphne du Maurier’s REBECCA to be Adapted by Director Ben Wheatley for Working Title Films and Netflix

A classic novel about the past coming back to haunt the present, Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca (originally published in 1938) will be adapted by filmmaker Ben Wheatley (Free Fire, Sightseers) as a new project for Netflix and Working Title Films.

Produced by Working Title’s Eric Fellner and Tim Bevan, as well as Nira Park, the new Rebecca movie will star Lily James (Pride and Prejudice and Zombies) and Armie Hammer (who previously worked with Wheatley on Free Fire). According to Variety, Wheatley will direct from a screenplay by Jane Goldman, who has previously adapted books for the big screen with The Limehouse Golem, 2012's The Woman in Black, and Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children.

Master of Suspense Alfred Hitchcock previously adapted Rebecca as a feature film in 1940 (in case you missed it, read Kalyn Corrigan's in-depth retrospective on the film here).

There's no release date set for the new Rebecca adaptation yet, but we'll keep Daily Dead readers updated on further announcements, and you can read more details in the official statement from Netflix below:

"Acclaimed British director Ben Wheatley (Kill List, High Rise) has signed on to direct a new adaptation of Daphne du Maurier’s classic, romantic, gothic thriller penned by screenwriter Jane Goldman (Kingsman series, X-Men: First Class). It tells the story of a newly-married young woman who, on arriving at her husband's imposing family estate on a bleak English coast, finds herself battling the shadow of his dead first wife, the mysterious Rebecca, whose legacy continues to haunt the house."