Top 150 Most Anticipated Foreign Films of 2019: #31. The Personal History of David Copperfield – Armando Iannucci

The Personal History of David Copperfield

Celebrated satirist Armando Iannucci sets his sights on a sort-of contemporization of Charles Dickens for his third narrative feature The Personal History of David Copperfield. One of Dickens’ seminal texts, it has been remade countless times (mostly for television), but perhaps most notably by George Cukor with 1935’s Oscar nominated version. Iannucci, whose cinematic debut In the Loop scored an Oscar nod for Best Screenplay, is best known as the creator of “Veep” and “The Thick of It,” but his excellent The Death of Stalin competed in Toronto’s Platform program in 2017. What’s most notable about this latest version is Iannucci’s use of ‘color blind’ casting, with Dev Patel starring as the titular character. A notable supporting cast includes Tilda Swinton, Ben Whishaw, Hugh Laurie, Peter Capaldi, Gwendoline Christie, Aneurin Bernard, Benedict Wong, Anthony Welsh, Paul Whitehouse, Daisy May Cooper, Morfydd Clark, and Rosalind Eleazar. Financed through FilmNation and Film 4, Iannucci serves as producer alongside Kevin Loader and Celia Duval as co-producer.

Gist: Iannucci and his regular scribe Simon Blackwell’s script utilizes Dickens’ 19th century dialogue to relay the narrative of David Copperfield, who grows from impoverished child into celebrated author.

Release Date/Prediction: Iannucci filmed over the summer. Previously, In the Loop premiered at Sundance while Stalin premiered at TIFF and then was later programmed at Sundance 2018. Ere goes, The Personal History of David Copperfield could potentially land Iannucci there again unless a desired comp slot lands this high pedigree adaptation somewhere in the Fall circuit of Venice/TIFF.