There’s no doubt that The Queen’s Gambit has been a hit for Netflix – the glossy 1960s drama about a young, female chess prodigy is now the streamer’s biggest ever scripted limited series. Now, the show’s co-creator Scott Frank and its star Anya Taylor-Joy are working on a new project together – an adaptation of Vladimir Nabokov’s novel Laughter in the Dark.
Frank spoke to the Watch podcast about the project, calling it “a valentine to movies. I’m going to do it as a film noir and a movie within a movie, and it’s a really nasty, wonderful, thriller.”
The Lolita author’s novel was originally released in English in 1932 under the name Camera Obscura, but Nabokov published his own Russian translation in 1938. It follows Albert Albinus, a married middle-aged art critic, and Margot Peters, a 17-year-old aspiring actress who he’s obsessed with. After Albert’s wife learns of their affair and moves out, Margot enlists her former lover to help her financially – and psychologically – ruin Albert.
With his new project in the works, Taylor-Joy has got a lot on her plate. Her next role is in Edgar Wright’s upcoming psychological horror movie Last Night in Soho with Diana Rigg and Matt Smith and she’s also set to re-team with The Witch director Robert Eggers for Viking revenge movie The Northman, alongside Alexander Skarsgård, Nicole Kidman, and Willem Dafoe. Plus, it was recently announced that she’d been cast as the title character in Mad Max: Fury Road spin-off Furiosa. Phew.
Finished The Queen’s Gambit? Check out our list of the other best Netflix shows you can watch right now.
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