The First 'Rebecca' Trailer Will Leave You Dreaming of Manderley

Writer Daphne du Maurier is most famous for her seminal 1938 novel Rebecca, the story of a young newlywed who arrives home with her new husband, Maxim de Winter, only to discover his first wife's ghost haunts his house. Part of the novel's fame rose from the Alfred Hitchcock film adaptation that came two years later and won Best Picture after scoring 11 Oscar nominations. (Hitchcock also adapted several of du Maurier's other works, including Jamaica Inn and The Birds, to great acclaim.) The story has been part of the cultural landscape for so long, it's somewhat remarkable no one has attempted to remake the novel as part of the streaming wars before now.

Perhaps it's the big shoes to fill. Joan Fontaine, sister of the late actress Olivia de Havilland, as "the Second Mrs. de Winter," never again played a role that worked so perfectly. It's also hard to top Laurence Olivier as George Fortescue Maximilian "Maxim" de Winter. But Netflix thinks it's found the perfect pair in Armie Hammer (Call Me By Your Name) and Lily James (Downton Abbey), and adding Kristen Scott Thomas as the terrifying Mrs. Danvers. It also helps that the new adaptation has decided to eschew the famous Hitchcock version altogether.

The trailer hints at Netflix's new direction, but it's the marketing materials pointedly not referring to Hitchcock that tips director Ben Wheatley's hand.