The Netflix video service will release the series Anna K, based on Leo Tolstoy's novel Anna Karenina.
It will be the first Russian project filmed under the auspices of the platform.
The production will be carried out by the 1-2-3 Production company, which previously released such popular films as Epidemia, Dyatlov Pass, Flight, Call Center and others.
The "Friend of a Druga" studio also participates in the project.
The script for the series is being worked on by Maria Mikulina (Subtle Matter) and Roman Kantor, the author of the scripts for the Silver Skates and Epidemic projects.
For the first time in his career, he will act as a director along with Natasha Merkulova, Alexei Chupov, as well as Valery Fedorovich and Yevgeny Nikishov, who had a hand in creating such high-profile films as "Policeman from Rublyovka", "Chernobyl: Exclusion Zone", "Gogol.
Start".
Svetlana Khodchenkova will play the main role.
The action of the new film adaptation of the cult novel will unfold in modern Russian megacities - Moscow and St. Petersburg.
Also, the heroes will find themselves in the harsh Russian outback.
In the story, Anna Karenina, a socialite and the wife of the future governor of St. Petersburg, starts an affair with Alexei Vronsky, the heir to the metallurgical industry.
Their love will have a devastating effect on both family and social ties of the heroes.
“The series touches upon the themes of passion and fidelity and proves the irrefutable truth - that love can lead to both freedom and death, regardless of any wealth,” says the official description of the project.
“Bringing Anna Karenina to Russia in the 21st century and presenting her to the whole world in her native language (and many others) through the amazing Netflix platform is a dream for me.
Literally so, because the idea of this series came to me in a dream, and since then I have not stopped following it, ”said Roman Kantor.
The series will be available on Netflix worldwide.
One of the producers, Sergei Kornikhin, representing the Friend Druha studio, says that cooperation with the platform is "a small step for our company, but a huge step for the entire film industry."
Valery Fedorovich and Evgeny Nikishov are confident that the series will interest many foreign viewers, since it is based on a classic work of great importance for world literature.
“This project will be a real challenge for us.
But since the future series is based on one of the fundamental works of love in world literature, we hope to be able to touch the hearts of viewers around the world from Australia to Brazil, ”the directors say.
Past film adaptations
Leo Tolstoy's novel Anna Karenina, first published in the 1870s, has been repeatedly filmed.
The first attempts to transfer the mastery of history by means of cinematography date back to the era of silent cinema.
The films of the same name were released in the Russian Empire, Hungary, Italy.
Later, the work continued to attract filmmakers around the world.
In the mid-1930s, Anna Karenina was played by the film star Greta Garbo in the film by American director Clarence Brown.
The tape won the Mussolini Cup at the Venice Film Festival.
Later, Anna was embodied by other famous artists: Vivien Leigh, Jacqueline Bisset, Sophie Marceau, Keira Knightley.
The latter starred in an Oscar-winning film adaptation for her work as costume designers.
© Still from the film "Anna Karenina"
The film by Alexander Zarkhi, which premiered in 1967, enjoyed immense popularity among Soviet audiences.
Anna in it was played by Tatyana Samoilova, and Vronsky - by Vasily Lanovoy.
This adaptation is especially close to the literary source.
Interestingly, the ballerina Maya Plisetskaya played a secondary role in the tape.
Later she performed the part of Anna Karenina in the Bolshoi Ballet.
Also among the Russian projects based on the novel are the tapes of Karen Shakhnazarov, Sergey Solovyov, Yuri Grymov. In 2019, a short film by Radda Novikova “Dark as Night. Anna Karenina "based on the script by Alexander Tsypkin (" Unprincipled "). The action, as in the upcoming Netflix movie, has been moved to modern realities. The film stars Julia Peresild, Ingeborga Dapkunaite, Maxim Sukhanov, Matvey Lykov and others.