The Personal History of David Copperfield, an adaptation of the Dickens classic directed by award winning filmmaker Armando Iannucci (The Death of Stalin) is to open the 63rd BFI London Film Festival. Dev Patel (Lion, Slumdog Millionaire) will play the title character of David Copperfield, alongside Academy Award winner Tilda Swinton, Hugh Laurie, who plays Mr Dick, Peter Capaldi, Ben Whishaw, Paul Whitehouse, Aneurin Barnard (Dunkirk), Daisy May Cooper (This Country), Morfydd Clark (The Falling), Benedict Wong (Avengers: Infinity War), Gwendoline Christie (Game of Thrones) Anthony Welsh (Fleabag) and Rosalind Eleazar (Howards End).
It was written by Iannucci (Emmy Award winning creator of Veep) and fellow Academy Award nominee Simon Blackwell (In The Loop) based on Charles Dickens’ novel.
A fresh and distinctive take on Charles Dickens’ semi-autobiographical masterpiece, the film is set in the 1840s and chronicles the life of its iconic title character as he navigates a chaotic world to find his elusive place within it. From his unhappy childhood to the discovery of his gift as a storyteller and writer, David’s journey is by turns hilarious and tragic, but always full of life, colour and humanity.
Armando Iannucci is a writer and broadcaster, who has written, directed and produced numerous critically acclaimed television and radio comedy shows. His screenplay for the film In The Loop was nominated for an Oscar, and his iconic series for BBC – The Thick of It – was nominated for 13 BAFTA Awards, winning 5 during its four series run. Armando’s HBO comedy Veep has picked up numerous awards including two Emmys for Outstanding Comedy Series over the last four years. In 2017 he published ‘Hear Me Out’, a new book on classical music, and his feature film The Death of Stalin was released, winning 4 BIFAs and receiving 2 BAFTA nominations.
The film reunites many of Armando Iannucci’s long-term collaborators including cast members Hugh Laurie (Veep), Peter Capaldi (The Thick of It, In The Loop) and Paul Whitehouse (The Death of Stalin) and crew members who collaborated on The Death of Stalin and previous productions including casting director Sarah Crowe, production designer Cristina Casali, costume designer Suzie Harman, cinematographer Zac Nicholson and composer Chris Willis.
The premiere is on October 2 at the BFI London Film Festival, which runs until October 13.
