Catherine Zeta-Jones to play Morticia Addams in Netflix series 'Wednesday'

The Welsh actress will star as the Addams family matriarch in a Tim Burton series focusing on daughter, Wednesday Addams

Catherine Zeta-Jones will play Morticia Addams, opposite Luis Guzman as Gomez Addams, in 'Wednesday'

A retelling of the Addams family's story is coming to Netflix.

Wednesday, directed by Tim Burton, will shine a spotlight on Wednesday Addams, the teenage daughter of Morticia and Gomez Addams known for her morbid fascinations and dark braided pigtails.

It was announced on Monday that Welsh actress Catherine Zeta-Jones is to play matriarch Morticia Addams and Puerto Rican Narcos actor Luis Guzman will step in to play Gomez Addams. It was previously reported that Jenna Ortega will star as the titular Wednesday.

According to Netflix, the eight-episode live-action series "will see everyone’s favourite maiden of the macabre graduate into a full-fledged leading lady".

"A sleuthing, supernaturally infused mystery charting Wednesday Addams's years as a student at Nevermore Academy," Netflix says of the new series.

"Wednesday's attempts to master her emerging psychic ability, thwart a monstrous killing spree that has terrorised the local town, and solve the supernatural mystery that embroiled her parents 25 years ago – all while navigating her new and very tangled relationships at Nevermore."

The Addams family have been adapted from cartoons, first created by American illustrator Charles Addams for The New Yorker in 1938, to television, film and video game characters.

In the past, Morticia has been notably played by Carolyn Jones (in the 1964 series The Addams Family), Anjelica Huston (in films The Addams Family and Addams Family Values), Daryl Hannah (in Addams Family Reunion) and Brooke Shields (in 2010 musical, The Addams Family). Gomez has been played by Raul Julia, Tim Curry, Glenn Taranto, Nathan Lane and Roger Rees, and Wednesday by Lisa Loring, Christina Ricci, Krysta Rodriguez, Rachel Potter and Carrie Hope Fletcher.

The extended Wednesday cast is yet to be announced. However, other family members include Pugsley, Wednesday's older brother, and Pubert, their younger brother; Uncle Fester, the brother of Gomez; Grandmama; the hairy Cousin Itt; and a disembodied hand called Thing.

Burton is known for his pop-horror films and TV series, including The Nightmare Before Christmas, which he wrote, and Frankenweenie, Beetlejuice and Corpse Bride, all of which he directed.