'Harry Potter' Star Emma Watson Makes Rare Public Appearance for 'Little Women' Premiere

Emma Watson hit the red carpet on Saturday night for the premiere of Little Women. The Harry Potter star does not make many public appearances these days, but she made an exception for her new movie. Watson smiled with co-stars Saoirse Ronan, Greta Gerwig, Laura Dern and others on Saturday.

Watson was all smiles on Saturday night in New York City. She wore a long black gown to the premiere, with ruffled black lace at the top and a loose, silky skirt beneath.

Little Women premiered at the Museum of Modern Art in NYC, and the main cast was all there. In addition to Watson and those listed above, there was Tracy Letts, Florence Pugh, Eliza Scanlen, Timothee Chalamet, James Norton, Louis Garrel and Chris Cooper.

Little Women is an adaptation of a beloved novel by Louisa May Alcott. Set in the 1860s when the book was published, the movie is an ambitious period piece set in the aftermath of the American Civil War, with four sisters taking center stage. Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy march are played by Watson, Ronan, Scanlen and Pugh, respectively.

This is the eighth time Little Women has been adapted for the screen, and one of the most extravagant versions ever. The movie was made on a $42 million budget, according to a report by Variety, and includes some of the biggest stars of the screen today.

Early reviews for Little Women have been generally positive. At the time of this writing, the movie has a 96 percent positive score on Rotten Tomatoes, based on the average of 48 total reviews. After Saturday's premiere, Aida Edemariam posted one review for The Guardian, saying that the story itself has "come of age" with this latest treatment, allowing the audience to progress in the way they interact with this well-known story.

"[T]his is a film in love with its characters' passions, a rich and effortlessly vibrant examination of the four March 'little women' and the ways... they're practically bursting with the innocent it's-happening-right-now joy of being young and alive," wrote Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times.

"It doesn't just brim with life, it brims with ideas about happiness, economic realities, and what it means to push against or to hew to the expectations laid out for one's gender," added Alison Wilmore for New York Magazine.

Saturday night was the official world premiere of Little Women. It will screen again at the Rio de Janeiro International Film Festival on Monday night, and then get its nationwide release on Christmas Day.