Dan Stevens Joins The Man Who Invented Christmas As Charles Dickens; Christopher Plummer And Jonathan Pryce On Board

A Christmas Carol, the time-honoured story from Charles Dickens, needs no introduction. First published in the mid 1800s, the supernatural Dickens parable is still very much a cornerstone of the festive season, and many can recite Ebenezer Scrooge’s encounters with the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Yet to Come from memory. But what of the story behind the classic?

Coming off a string of literary duds, Charles Dickens was struggling to make ends meet before fleshing out A Christmas Carol in the space of six weeks, a comeback story that serves as the spine for Les Stanford’s 2008 non-fiction novel, The Man Who Invented Christmas.

It’s now being packaged for the silver screen, according to Deadline, who reveal that Dan Stevens has landed the star role of the young Charles Dickens, headlining a cast comprised of Christopher Plummer and Game of Thrones star Jonathan Pryce. They’ll play Scrooge and Dickens Sr., respectively. Behind the scenes, Bharat Nalluri (Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day) will direct from a screenplay adapted by Susan Coyne, and we understand production is expected to commence at some point next month ahead of a Christmas 2017 release.

The Man Who Invented Christmas is another intriguing role to add to the Dan Stevens collection. Next year, The Guest star will woo Emma Watson’s Belle in Beauty and the Beast, before taking point as the lead in Gareth Evans’ religious kidnapping thriller, Apostle. He also holds a key role in FX’s mutant spinoff series, Legion.