Meryl Streep joined her “Little Women” colleagues Florence Pugh, Greta Gerwig, Laura Dern, Saoirse Ronan, and Timothee Chalamet during a special screening and panel event held at DGA in Los Angeles on Wednesday night. Streep plays Aunt March in the upcoming flick, opposite Saoirse Ronan, Laura Dern, Florence Pugh, and Timothee Chalamet, who were all at the event along with writer/director Greta Gerwig. During the panel event, the cast opened up about how they all got into character and Meryl talked about how she became the penny-pinching Aunt March. “She [Greta Gerwig] let me do what I wanted,” she said. “Aunt March is all about the money. It’s how the world measures value. She is the reality check on all the airy-fairy, highfalutin, idealistic people who populate her family, and that she basically underwrites.” Saoirse even revealed that one day, Meryl ate fast food to get into character. “I was trying to save money,” Meryl quipped. Little Women is set to open on Christmas Day. Pictures from the screening have been added to the photo gallery.

Greta Gerwig’s adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s classic — her sophomore directorial effort after 2017’s Oscar-nominated Lady Bird — hits theaters on Christmas Day (naturally), and the first trailer arrived Tuesday morning. The following bits are courtesy Entertainment Weekly: “We wanted [the trailer] to feel like the movie feels, which is both classical and fresh,” Gerwig tells EW and PEOPLE. “We wanted it to feel light on its feet. And even though it does take place in the 19th century, we in no way wanted it to feel like it was something that was past. We wanted it to feel like it was present right now.” Good luck not being knocked over by the very present emotion of seeing Meg (Emma Watson), Jo (Saoirse Ronan), Beth (Eliza Scanlen), and Amy (Florence Pugh) brought to vivid life in the joyous, colorful footage, with glimpses of gentle Marmee (Laura Dern), stern Aunt March (Meryl Streep), and the wonderful, almost-irresistible Laurie (Timothée Chalamet). “It’s like their hearts are as big as the landscape,” Gerwig says, and the two-and-a-half-minute clip is packed with love — sisterly, motherly, complicated, unconditional, unrequited, and otherwise. Watch the trailer above, and read on for a breakdown of all the ways the December release has already got our hearts soaring.

Vanity Fair has an in-depth article on Greta Gerwig’s upcoming “Little Women”, including some exclusive pictures from the cast, featuring one on-set picture of Gerwig and Meryl Streep. Greta Gerwig doesn’t remember reading Little Women for the first time. “It must have been read to me,” she says when I ask for her earliest memories of author Louisa May Alcott’s classic tale of four girls imagining a world beyond their humble surroundings outside Civil War–era Boston.“I always knew who Jo March was,” Gerwig continues. “She was the person I wanted to be.” In that, Gerwig has had plenty of company. Little Women is one of the most popular books in the history of American letters; after the first volume sold out its initial run of 2,000 copies in 1868, the novel has never been out of print. Simone de Beauvoir, born in 1908, pretended as a child that she was Jo—Alcott’s protagonist and stand-in, a determined, stubborn tomboy with a flair for writing. Ursula Le Guin says that Alcott’s Jo made writing as a girl feel possible. In film, Katharine Hepburn played Jo in 1933; Winona Ryder, in 1994. Now, Gerwig has created her own Jo for the screen in Saoirse Ronan, who also starred in Gerwig’s debut as a solo director, 2017’s Oscar-nominated Lady Bird. The full article can be read over at Vanity Fair

While there’s still no official confirmation of Meryl Streep or any of the other stars being on board of Greta Gerwig’s adaptation of “Little Women”, the film team is currently looking for extras in the Boston area for a October-December shoot of the film. Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Florence Pugh, Timothée Chalamet and Laura Dern are in talks to star alongside Streep in the role of Aunt March. While many anticipated that Streep would play Marmie, the March sisters’ mother, she will in fact assume what may be a meatier role. “Meryl Streep gets to play any part she wants to play,” said Robin Swicord, who wrote the 1994 film version of Little Women starring Winona Ryder and Kirsten Dunst. Though Aunt March hasn’t enjoyed nearly as much screen time as Marmie in most previous film and television adaptations of Little Women, Gerwig’s screenplay will focus more on the sisters’ young-adult lives after they leave the family home, which likely means more focus on Aunt March and her very contentious selection of which sister to bring to Europe. The complete article about the Boston casting call can be read over here.

According to Variety, Emma Watson is set to join Greta Gerwig’s star-studded remake of “Little Women.” Sources say Watson is playing the part originally intended for Emma Stone, who was unable to join the project because of promotional obligations for the Fox Searchlight film and award season contender “The Favourite.” With production expected to start next month, Sony moved quickly to approach Watson. Roles are still being worked out and it is unknown which sister Watson would be playing. Gerwig is writing and directing, with Meryl Streep, Laura Dern, Saoirse Ronan, Timothee Chalamet, and Florence Pugh in negotiations to star in Sony’s retelling of the American classic. The project had been set up at Columbia Pictures for some time, with Amy Pascal set to produce with Denise Di Novi and Robin Swicord. Andrea Giannetti will oversee the production for Sony. The novel by Louisa May Alcott, which follows the March sisters in Civil War-era America, has been adapted multiple times for film and television, including the 1994 Winona Ryder version. The BBC’s “Little Women” miniseries aired late last year. Many thanks to Glenn for the heads-up.

According to Entertainment Weekly, Lady Bird writer and director Greta Gerwig has set Little Women as her next film. And it gets even better. In talks to join the cast are Lady Bird alums Saoirse Ronan and Timothée Chalamet, Emma Stone, Florence Pugh, and Meryl Streep. No, you are not dreaming. The latest adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s novel hails from Sony Pictures and producer Amy Pascal. According to Variety, which first reported the news, the project will star Ronan as the protagonist Jo, Stone as Meg, Streep as Marmee, Pugh as Amy, and Chalamet as Laurie Laurence. After great success with indie films as an actor and writer, Gerwig broke out in the mainstream last year with Lady Bird, the coming-of-age story starring Ronan and Chalamet, which earned five Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director for Gerwig, and Best Actress for Ronan. Edit: In a follow-up story which sounds more official than the first announcement, it has been said that Meryl is actually going to be playing Aunt March. The Los Angeles Times first broke the story, and points out that the new film will focus more on the March sisters in their young adult years, which likely means more focus on Aunt March and her very contentious selection of which sister to bring to Europe. But, really, “Meryl Streep gets to play any part she wants to play,” as Robin Swicord explained to the Times, as if that wasn’t obvious. Swicord wrote the 1994 version of Little Women and is working on the new adaptation as a producer. The film is expected to begin filming this October in Boston and could be in theaters as soon as next fall.