In August 2021, multiple news outlets and social media posts claimed that Welsh actor Catherine Zeta-Jones had signed on to the cast of "Wednesday," a forthcoming Netflix series that centers around the Addams family's morbid teenage daughter.
For example on Aug. 9, the New York Post published an article with the headline "Catherine Zeta-Jones cast as Morticia in Wednesday Addams Netflix series." That article stated:
"Catherine Zeta-Jones is about to get scary. The Oscar winner has recently been cast as Morticia in the upcoming Wednesday Addams series on Netflix."
Similar reports were published by Fox News, Unilad, and entertainment industry outlets including Variety and the Hollywood Reporter.
Those accounts were accurate. On Aug. 9, Netflix itself announced Zeta-Jones' inclusion in the cast, along with that Luis Guzmán as Morticia's husband, Gomez, in posts on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram:
The streaming platform first unveiled plans for the series back in February 2021, saying "Wednesday" would consist of eight episodes and would be a "sleuthing, supernaturally infused mystery charting Wednesday’s years as a student at the peculiar Nevermore Academy; Wednesday's attempts to master her emerging psychic ability, thwart a monstrous killing spree that has terrorized the local town; and solve the supernatural mystery that embroiled her parents 25 years ago — all while navigating her new and very tangled relationships of the strange and diverse student body."
The series will be directed by "Beetlejuice" and "Batman Returns" director Tim Burton, in his television directing debut.
Netflix announced in May that Jenna Ortega would play the titular role of Wednesday Addams, and the Aug. 9 announcement added the names of Zeta-Jones, who won an Academy Award for best supporting actress for her role as Velma Kelley in "Chicago," the 2002 film adaptation of the Broadway musical of the same name, and Guzmán, a prolific character actor who has appeared in "Carlito's Way," "Traffic," and "Punch-Drunk Love," among dozens of other films.
As of August 2021, "Wednesday" does not yet have an official release date.