As viewers settle down into the Christmas spirit, a new teaser for BBC adaptation, ‘A Christmas Carol’ shows Tom Hardy and an all-star cast are upping the workload.Â
The original 1843 iconic novel written by Charles Dickens will be transformed into a miniseries that is set to air on America’s pay-to-air channel, FX and BBC ONE, this Christmas.Â
If you feel like you’ve been alive for way too many remakes of the classic tale, the crew behind this project may be able to reel back you in for another round. Directed by Nick Murphy and executive produced by Ridley Scott, Tom Hardy & Steven Knight, the show will be led by an all star posse. And if you’re still not convinced, BBC has released a teaser to give viewers a sneak peek of what to expect.
At first glance, it seems like the adaption of the novel will feature predominantly darker themes. Featuring haunting shots of Andy Serkis, playing the Ghost of Christmas’ Past, viewers that grew up on the original tale may be able to reconnect with their past through this darker, heavier interpretation.
“To inspect your heart and soul”, Australian actor is Guy Pearce is told in a back and forth with the Ghost. Pearce. Pearce will be taking on the role of protagonist (at least in the original tale), Ebenzer Scrooge, who seems to be portrayed as much more attractive character than in the original tale.
As per Flickering Myth, Knight explained his decision to cast Pearce saying:
“What I wanted to do was to make Ebenzer Scrooge someone who, if it weren’t for what he is and how he behaves, would be an attractive man. I didn’t want to make him look like his soul, because his soul is pretty wretched. But on the outside, he’s okay. I wanted the audience to say to themselves, ‘Why is this person like this?'”
Benjamin Button’s, Jason Flemyng, and Taboo’s, Stephen Graham, will be playing the Ghost of Christmas Present and Jacob Marley respectively. The casting crew will also be joined by Lenny Rush (Tiny Tim), Charlotte Riley (Lottie), Vinette Robinson (Mary Cratchit), Joe Alwyn (Bob Cratchit) and Kayvan Novak (Ali Baba).
The 2019 Christmas special is set to be the first of five Dickens’ adaptions, all to be screen written by Steven Knight.
“What I’m planning to do is adapt five Dickens books – A Christmas Carol plus four novels – and do it over a period of six or seven years and have a repertory of actors,” Knight said.
With his track record and recent success in hit TV-show, Peaky Blinders (which by the way also features Tom Hardy and Joe Alwyn), the recent teaser seems to show that Knight won’t be slowing down any time soon.
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