The Man Who Invented Christmas - Dan Stevens as Charles Dickens

[Darth Marcus]

Source: Variety

Bleecker Street Nabs Charles Dickens Biopic With Dan Stevens, Christopher Plummer
by Brett Lang - 11/7/2016

Bleecker Street has acquired U.S. rights to “The Man Who Invented Christmas,” a look at the creation of “A Christmas Carol.”

The indie label also nabbed distribution rights in certain other select territories, such as Eastern Europe, Benelux, Scandinavia, and Latin America. The film begins production in December and will hit theaters in 2017 just in time for the holidays.

“Downton Abbey’s” Dan Stevens will star as Charles Dickens, with Christopher Plummer playing Scrooge and Jonathan Pryce taking on the role of Dickens’ father. Bharat Nalluri, who previously guided “Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day,” will slide behind the camera. The film unfolds over six weeks as Dickens labors to complete his Yuletide masterpiece. It finds the author at a low point, still bruised from the commercial failures of several books. With publishers rejecting his latest work, he sets out to cook up a story he hopes will keep his family solvent.

“The Man Who Invented Christmas” is produced by Robert Mickelson and Ian Sharples, with Paula Mazur, Mitchell Kaplan, Andrew Karpen and Vadim Jean executive producing. Parallel Films and Rhombus Media are co-production partners. The script is written by Susan Coyne (“Mozart in the Jungle”).

The acquisition was negotiated by Kent Sanderson and Avy Eschenasy on behalf of Bleecker Street, and CAA on behalf of the producers. Lisa Wilson of The Solution is representing international rights.