‘Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase’ Trailer Released Featuring ‘IT’ Star Sophia Lillis

Nancy Drew is returning to the big screen for the first time in more than a decade, thanks to Ellen DeGeneres and IT star Sophia Lillis. The trailer for Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase was released last week.

In The Hidden Staircase, Lillis plays Nancy, a young detective who decides to solve mysteries in her small town with the help of her friends. The group has to figure out what is really going on in a supposedly haunted house, but it will not be easy. There are adults getting in the way and a car trying to stop Nancy on her skateboard.

The new film is based on the second Nancy Drew novel, published under the pseudonym used by all Nancy Drew authors, Carolyn Keene, in 1930. A revised edition was published in 1959, and it was first turned into a film back in 1939 as part of Warner Bros.’ original Nancy Drew franchise starring Bonita Granville.

Lillis was cast as Nancy Drew in April 2018. She is best known for playing Beverly Marsh in the 2017 adaptation of Stephen King’s IT. She also played the younger version of Amy Adams’ Sharp Objects character on the HBO series.

The Hidden Staircase also stars Zoe Renee, Mackenzie Graham, Laura Slade Wiggins, Sam Trammell, Linda Lavin, Andrea Anders and Jesse C. Boyd. It was directed by Katt Shea with a script by Nina Fiore and John Herrera, DeGeneres co-produced with Jeff Kleeman and Chip Diggins.

Although Nancy Drew has remained popular ever since she debuted in 1930 in The Hardy Boys, Hollywood has a mixed record with the character. In the late 1930s, Warner Bros. produced several films, but it was not until the late 1970s that Hollywood tried again, this time for television. Nancy Drew appeared in The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries series from 1977 to 1979, with Pamela Sue Martin and Janet Louise Johnson as Nancy.

Since then, there have been multiple attempts to get a successful TV show off the ground. There was a short-lived series in 1995, a 2002 made-for-TV movie intended as a pilot for a series that never happened and a Sarah Shahi-starring CBS pilot that never reached the airwaves. Just this week, only days after the trailer for The Hidden Staircase was released, The CW ordered a pilot for another attempt, this time with The O.C. creators Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage writing.

In 2007, Emma Roberts starred in Warner Bros.’ Nancy Drew, which earned a mixed reception from critics and was not a big enough hit to launch a franchise.

Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase opens on March 15.

Photo credit: Warner Bros.