Sophia Lillis is set to star in ‘Gretel and Hansel’.
The 16-year-old actress – who rose to fame after her role in last year’s hit adaptation of ‘It’ – has signed up to play Gretel in a remake of the classic Brothers Grimm fairy tale in development by Orion Pictures.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the movie will be helmed by Osgood Perkins, who also co-wrote the flick alongside Rob Hayes.
The movie is set to be a dark thriller which reimagines the well known tale – in which Gretel and her brother Hansel meet a witch in the woods, who captures them and tries to eat them – and depicts Gretel leading her younger brother into a world of terrifying evil after going on a search for food and work.
‘Gretel and Hansel’ – which puts Gretel in the prominent role, as the original fairy tale is titled ‘Hansel and Gretel’ – is preparing for a shoot in Ireland later this year, with Brian Kavanaugh-Jones and Fred Berger on board to produce.
Sandra Yee Ling will executive produce while Dan Kagan will oversee the project on behalf of Orion.
Sophia rose to fame after starring as ill-treated teen Beverly Marsh in the 2017 Stephen King adaptation which became the highest grossing horror movie of all time as it took in $700.3 million worldwide.
The teen actress has also co-starred beside Amy Adams in HBO’s murder mystery series ‘Sharp Objects’ where she plays a young version of Amy’s character Camille, and the star previously reflected on shooting a scene with on-screen mother, 58-year-old Patricia Clarkson.
She said: "Patricia Clarkson, man, she’s good. I was a little nervous, for sure.
"I was acting with all the other adults and everybody was there. It was my first scene with all of them, so it was a little nerve racking.
"But Lulu [Wilson, who plays Marian] made me relax a little bit. She’s a very funny person, and she told me that she’s very used to playing dead in her past roles.
"All my nervousness was built up, so it was a little easier to do that scene. It’s very therapeutic to let all your nervousness out, you know?"
Sophia Lillis to star in Gretel and Hansel
