While attending Licensing Expo in Las Vegas, our very own Steven Weintraub got an exclusive picture of a poster with the release date of Wednesday, Tim Burton’s highly-anticipated take on The Addams Family. The series stars Jenna Ortega as the titular character and will be released this Fall on Netflix.
Created by cartoonist Charles Addams, the Addams Family became one of the most beloved Hollywood franchises, spawning films, books, series, and hundreds of dolls and other merchandising objects. Now, Burton intends to show a new side of the iconic characters, by focusing on the oldest child of Morticia and Gomez. The spinoff series Wednesday will follow the titular character as she tries to hone her natural psychic abilities and survive school. The series is being described as a young adult series, and with Burton’s keenness for the dark arts, we are all very excited to see what the show turns out to be.
While a live-action Addams Family series developed by Burton is already intriguing enough, the upcoming show will feature the talent of Chistina Ricci as a regular cast member. Ricci had her breakout role as Wednesday Addams in 1991’s The Addams Family and its sequel, Addams Family Values. Many fans view the two live-action films as the definitive adaptation of the Addams Family, and Ricci's return to the franchise can only mean good things for Wednesday.
Wednesday also stars Catherine Zeta-Jones as Morticia Addams, Luis Guzmán as Gomez Addams, Garfunkel and Oates’ Riki Lindhome as Dr. Valerie Kinbott; Jamie McShane (Sons of Anarchy) as Sheriff Donovan Galpin, and Isaac Ordonez as Pugsley, Wednesday’s younger brother. Gwendoline Christie (Game of Thrones) will also appear as a main cast member known as Larissa Weems. The series will be scored by legendary composer Danny Elfman (Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Beetlejuice).
Wednesday will be released this year, somewhere between September and November. Check out the poster with the release date below.
Here's the official synopsis for Wednesday:
Based on the character originally created by Charles Addams, “Wednesday” is a young adult TV series described as a a sleuthing, supernaturally infused mystery charting Wednesday Addams’ years as a student at Nevermore Academy. She attempts to master her emerging psychic ability, thwart a monstrous killing spree that has terrorized 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.