'War and Peace' will be adapted as a BBC miniseries
The BBC, the Weinstein Company, and production company Lookout Point are teaming up to produce a TV miniseries adaptation of Leo Tolstoy鈥檚 classic novel 鈥淲ar and Peace,鈥� according to .
Lookout Point was behind other miniseries such as this year鈥檚 鈥淧arade鈥檚 End." "War and Peace" will air in six parts and will be written by Andrew Davies, who wrote for the British 1990 version of the miniseries 鈥淗ouse of Cards鈥� as well as the 1995 miniseries adaptation of 鈥淧ride and Prejudice,鈥� among other credits.
聽鈥淣eedless to say, adapting 'War And Peace' is a tremendous but exciting task,鈥� Weinstein Company co-chairman Harvey Weinstein said in a . 鈥淭here鈥檚 no one I鈥檇 rather be partnering with than Lookout Point鈥檚 Simon Vaughan and the BBC鈥檚 Ben Stephenson and Faith Penhale on this production, whose incredible visions are second to none in bringing classic literature to the screen in the most sophisticated way possible.鈥�
The series is expected to air in the UK in 2015.
Davies uttered what Austen fans may consider fighting words when he said in a , 鈥淭he characters are so natural and human and easy to identify with and Natasha Rostova just beats Lizzy Bennet as the most lovable heroine in literature.鈥�
According to Deadline, Davies wants an unknown actress to take on the part of Natasha.
聽鈥淲ar and Peace鈥� has been adapted several times before on both big and small screens, including a film version released in 1956 starring Audrey Hepburn and Henry Fonda, a 1972 miniseries starring Anthony Hopkins, and as a 2007 miniseries starring 鈥淗arry Potter鈥� actress and Malcolm McDowell.
