Matilda the Musical trailer kicks off Netflix’s Roald Dahl ambitions

Netflix is all in on Roald Dahl after acquiring the rights to the legendary children’s author’s catalog last year. Now, we’re finally getting a sense of what those ambitions will look like with the first trailer for Matilda the Musical. The live-action movie is a key part of Netflix’s holiday plans, and it stars Alisha Weir in the titular lead role along with Lashana Lynch as Miss Honey and Emma Thompson as Miss Trunchbull. It’s based on the 2010 musical adaptation of the original book.

Matilda the Musical was created as part of a deal between Sony and Netflix, and the streaming service is also working on a series based on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory from Thor director Taika Waititi and Phil Johnston, the screenwriter behind Zootopia and Wreck-It Ralph. While both of those projects have been in the works since before the acquisition, Netflix says that they’re just the beginning now that it has access to the entire catalog. (They’re also an important tool for competing with Disney Plus, which has a huge library of existing family-friendly shows and movies.)

“These projects opened our eyes to a much more ambitious venture: the creation of a unique universe across animated and live action films and TV, publishing, games, immersive experiences, live theatre, consumer products, and more,” Netflix explained last year.

Matilda the Musical starts streaming on Netflix on December 25th, and will also be in select theaters on December 9th.