Movies/Entertainment

Lionsgate to Release British All-Star Adaptation of 'Great Expectations'

The film world loves sure loves its adaptations of famous literary works doesn’t it? After all, as Mark Twain once said, classics are what everybody wants to have read but nobody wants to read…or something like that. Titles like Treasure Island, Jane Eyre, A Christmas Carol have seemingly been done to death, and now Great Expectations (another Charles Dickens novel btw) is getting close to its 20th retelling. So if you’ve missed out on the novel or 17 previous iterations, in this classic story young orphan Pip is given a chance to rise from his humble beginnings thanks to a mysterious benefactor. Moving through London’s class ridden world as a gentleman, Pip uses his new found position to pursue the beautiful Estella; a spoilt heiress he’s loved since childhood. Yet the shocking truth behind his great fortune will have devastating consequences for everything he holds dear.

Starring an impressive and award-winning cast including Helena Bonham Carter, Ralph Fiennes, Jeremy Irvine, Holliday Grainger, Robbie Coltrane, Ewen Bremner, Jason Flemyng, Sally Hawkins, David Walliams, Tamzin Outhwaite, Olly Alexander and Jessie Cave, this British tour de force is directed by the BAFTA winning director of Four Weddings and A Funeral and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Mike Newell, and has been written for the big screen by David Nicholls, the acclaimed writer of the global best seller One Day. This adaptation of Dickens’ finest novel is produced by award winning partners at Number 9 Films, Elizabeth Karlsen and Stephen Woolley (Made in Dagenham, How to Lose Friends and Alienate People, The Crying Game). The film has been financed by BBC Films, the BFI Film Fund, Lipsync Productions, Unison Films and Hart/ Lunsford Pictures.

Here are some of the latest set shots for your viewing pleasure…

Right now, this all British retelling is slated to get a Fall release with Great Expectations hitting theatres on November 30th 2012. No word yet on a US date but we’ll keep you posted. How does this look so far? Anyone interested in this latest production??