PBS grabs Green Gables adaptation

Anne of Green Gables

PBS in the US has acquired the recently completed two-hour film adaptation of L.M. Montgomery’s classic novel Anne of Green Gables.

The US public broadcaster will premiere the film, from Canadian production company Breakthrough Entertainment, during Thanksgiving on November 24.

Directed by John Kent Harrison and based on the original script by Susan Coyne, the adaptation was filmed in Canada and stars Martin Sheen as one half of the brother-sister couple that cares for Anne Shirley.

The film was produced by Breakthrough in association with Corus Entertainment-owned Canuck network YTV and the author’s granddaughter, Kate Macdonald Butler, who served as executive producer.

Michael Kelley, senior VP of programming and business affairs at PBS, said: “The story and Anne character have become a staple of childhood innocence and inspiration.”