FX and BBC have just announced a full cast for their new adaptation of Great Expectations. The main cast consists of Olivia Colman (The Favorite) as Miss Havisham, Fionn Whitehead (Dunkirk) as Pip, and Matt Berry (What We Do in the Shadows) as
Mr. Pumblechuck. Ashley Thomas (Them), Johnny Harris (A Christmas Carol), Shalom Brune-Franklin (Cursed), Hayley Squires (Adult Material), Owen McDonnell (Killing Eve), and Trystan Gravelle (A Discovery of Witches) round out the rest of the cast. Great Expectations is based on the beloved Charles Dickens novel of the same name.
Steven Knight, who also penned FX and BBC's 2018 dark adaptation of A Christmas Carol, will write and executive produce this new series. Knight has also written the screenplays of many notable movies including Eastern Promises, Locke, and Spencer. Lucy Forbes, whose impressive resume includes multiple episodes of Netflix's The End of the F***ing World, will serve as the lead director of Great Expectations. Actor Tom Hardy and director Ridley Scott are both acting as executive producers.
Colman won an Oscar for Best Actress for leading her performance in Yorgos Lanthimos' The Favourite, and is nominated for the same award at this year's Oscars for Maggie Gyllenhaal's directorial debut, The Lost Daughter. Colman can currently be seen on the small screen in HBO Max's miniseries Landscapers and is set to appear in the Marvel miniseries Secret Invasion, as well as the upcoming films Joyride and Wonka. Whitehead appeared in last year's sci-fi teen flick Voyagers and will be seen in Frances O'Connor's filmmaking debut, Emily, which is currently in post-production. Berry currently lends his voice to the character of 8D8 in Disney+'s The Book of Boba Fett, and will also voice a character in Jim Capobianco's new animated film, The Inventor.
Charles Dickens's Great Expectations, which was his 13th novel, was originally published weekly as a serial from December 1860 to August 1861. In October 1861, the book was released in three volumes to universal acclaim. This is the second adaptation of a Dickens novel by Knight, FX, and BBC in the past few years, so it seems likely that more novels by the legendary author will soon get similar adaptations. Great Expectations does not currently have a release date.