Netflix(NEW YORK) — The story that inspired Netflix’s hit drama The Queen’s Gambit could be coming to Broadway. Entertainment company Level Forward has acquired the rights to Walter Tevis’ The Queen’s Gambit, the 1983 novel behind the award-winning streaming hit, with plans to adapt it into a musical.
The book, like the miniseries, centers on Beth Harmon, an orphan turned chess prodigy, who grapples with addiction and the challenges of the male-dominated world of competitive chess.
In a statement, Level Forward CEO Adrienne Becker and producer Julia Dunetz called it a “privilege” to bring the story to the stage, calling it “a siren call amidst our contemporary struggles for gender and racial equity.”
The Queen’s Gambit received two Critics’ Choice Awards Sunday night: Best Limited Series and Best Actress in a Limited Series or Movie Made for Television for Anya Taylor-Joy, who plays Harmon.
Taylor-Joy was also awarded a Best Actress in a Limited Series Golden Globe last week, while the series itself was honored with a trophy in the Best Television Limited Series, Anthology Series, or Motion Picture Made for Television category.
By Stephen Iervolino
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