The Queen’s Gambit, the Walter Tevis novel recently adapted as the hit Netflix miniseries, could be headed to Broadway as a musical.
Entertainment company Level Forward has the acquired theatrical stage rights to the story of orphan-turned-chess prodigy Beth Harmon, and plans to develop the property into a stage musical.
“It is a privilege for Level Forward to lead the charge of bringing The Queen’s Gambit to the stage through the beloved and enduring craft of musical theater,” said Level Forward CEO Adrienne Becker and Producer Julia Dunetz in a statement. “Told through a brave and fresh point of view, audiences are already sharing in the friendship and fortitude of the story’s inspiring women who energize and sustain Beth Harmon’s journey and ultimate triumph. The story is a siren call amidst our contemporary struggles for gender and racial equity, and we’re looking forward to moving the project forward.”
Details about a creative team and casting were not announced.
Level Forward productions have received a combined 37 Tony Award nominations. Notable stage works include What The Constitution Means To Me, Oklahoma!, Jagged Little Pill and Slave Play.
Published in 1983, The Queen’s Gambit depicts Beth’s journey from Kentucky to Paris to Moscow and beyond, chronicling the prodigy’s struggle to overcome “a broken past and the demons of addiction, set against the practices and prejudices of a male-centered world.”
The Netflix adaptation, starring Anya Taylor-Joy, has received two Golden Globe Awards, two Critics’ Choice Awards and became Netflix’s most-watched scripted miniseries with over 62 million viewers in its first month.
The stage deal was brokered on behalf of the Tevis Family Trust by Susan Schulman of the Susan Schulman Literary Agency, New York and Rachel Gould on behalf of Level Forward.