Film4's 'The Personal History of David Copperfield' starts shooting

11 June 2018

Principal photography commences today on THE PERSONAL HISTORY OF DAVID COPPERFIELD, an adaptation of the Dickens classic directed by award winning filmmaker Armando Iannucci (The Death of Stalin). Dev Patel (Lion, Slumdog Millionaire) will play the title character ofDavid Copperfield, alongside Academy Award winner Tilda Swinton, Hugh Laurie, Peter Capaldi, Ben Whishaw, Paul Whitehouse, Aneurin Barnard (Dunkirk), Daisy May Cooper (This Country), Morfydd Clark (The Falling), Benedict Wong (Avengers: Infinity War), Gwendoline Christie (Game of Thrones) Anthony Welsh (Fleabag) and Rosalind Eleazar (Howards End).

Kevin Loader (The Death of Stalin) and Iannucci are producing the feature, which was developed with FilmNation Entertainment and is co-financed by FilmNation Entertainment and Film4. It was written by Iannucci (Emmy Award winning creator of Veep) and fellow Academy Award nominee Simon Blackwell (In The Loop) based on Charles Dickens’ novel. Principal photography is underway on location in the UK. FilmNation Entertainment are handling international sales and co-repping US sales with UTA Independent Film Group. Lionsgate have UK rights to the film.

A fresh and distinctive take on Charles Dickens’ semi-autobiographical masterpiece, THE PERSONAL HISTORY OF DAVID COPPERFIELD, set in the 1840’s, chronicles the life of its iconic title character as

he navigates a chaotic world to find his elusive place within it. From his unhappy childhood to the discovery of his gift as a storyteller and writer, David’s journey is by turns hilarious and tragic, but always full of life, colour and humanity.

Armando Iannucci is a writer and broadcaster, who has written, directed and produced numerous critically acclaimed television and radio comedy shows. His screenplay for the film In The Loop was nominated for an Oscar, and his iconic series for BBC – The Thick of It – was nominated for 13 BAFTA Awards, winning 5 during its four series run. Armando’s HBO comedy Veep has picked up numerous awards including two Emmys for Outstanding Comedy Series over the last four years. In 2017 he published ‘Hear Me Out’, a new book on classical music, and his feature film The Death of Stalin was released, winning 4 BIFAs and receiving 2 BAFTA nominations.

THE PERSONAL HISTORY OF DAVID COPPERFIELD reunites many of Armando Iannucci’s long-term collaborators including cast members Hugh Laurie (Veep), Peter Capaldi (The Thick of It, In The Loop) and Paul Whitehouse (The Death of Stalin) and crew members who collaborated on The Death of Stalin and previous productions including casting director Sarah Crowe, production designer Cristina Casali, costume designer Suzie Harman, cinematographer Zac Nicholson and composer Chris Willis.

For further information, please contact:

Keeley Naylor / keeley@emfoundation.com / 07970 917271

 

Notes to Editors:

 

ABOUT FILMNATION ENTERTAINMENT

FilmNation Entertainment is a leading distributor, financier and producer of independent films and is a destination for many of the world's most renowned filmmakers including Steven Soderbergh, Terrence Malick, Pedro Almodóvar, Jonathan Glazer, Sofia Coppola, Jeff Nichols, J.C. Chandor, Rian Johnson, Anton Corbijn, Lenny Abrahamson, Denis Villeneuve, and John Lee

Hancock. Founded in 2008 by veteran film executive Glen Basner, FilmNation has established itself as a home for specialty filmmaking with global appeal by focusing on a highly selective group of filmmakers and projects that emphasize both creative integrity and commercial potential. FilmNation is consistently ranked as one of the highest-grossing independent international film distributors. The company has become a prolific and respected producer, and its titles are amongst the most critically lauded in the film industry. FilmNation has more than 40 Academy Award® nominations and eight wins since its inception.

FilmNation’s current and upcoming slate showcases the work of many of today’s most exciting filmmakers including: Sebastian Lelio’s DISOBEDIENCE starring Rachel Weisz, Rachel McAdams and Alessandro Nivola; Richard Eyre’s THE CHILDREN ACT starring Emma Thompson, Stanley Tucci and Fionn Whitehead; and Dan Fogelman’s LIFE ITSELF featuring an all-star cast that includes Oscar Isaac, Samuel L. Jackson, Olivia Wilde, Antonio Banderas and Annette Bening. The company is in post-production on Sebastian Lelio’s GLORIA starring Julianne Moore.

In recent years, FilmNation has produced and financed: Denis Villeneuve’s Academy Award® winning ARRIVAL starring Amy Adams and Jeremy Renner; and Michael Showalter’s critically acclaimed indie box office hit THE BIG SICK starring Kumail Nanjiani, Zoe Kazan, Holly Hunter and Ray Romano. In 2018, the company produced Tom Hanks starrer GREYHOUND, Mindy Kaling and Emma Thompson starrer LATE NIGHT, and THE LODGE starring Riley Keough.

 

ABOUT FILM4

Film4 is Channel 4 Television’s feature film division. Film4 develops and co-finances films and is known for working with the most distinctive and innovative talent in UK and international filmmaking, both new and established.

Film4 has developed and co-financed many of the most successful UK films of recent years, Academy Award®-winners such as Martin McDonagh’s Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, Lenny Abrahamson’s Room, Alex Garland’s Ex Machina, Asif Kapadia’s box office record breaking documentary Amy, Steve McQueen’s 12 Years a Slave, Danny Boyle’s Slumdog

Millionaire and Phyllida Lloyd’s The Iron Lady, in addition to critically-acclaimed award-winners such as Lynne Ramsay’s You Were Never Really Here, Andrea Arnold’s American Honey, Yorgos Lanthimos’s The Lobster, Mike Leigh’s Mr. Turner, Chris Morris’s Four Lions, Shane Meadows’ This is England, Clio Barnard’s The Selfish Giant, Jonathan Glazer’s Under the Skin, Andrew Haigh’s 45 Years and David Mackenzie’s Starred Up.

Film4’s recent releases include Andrew Haigh’s Lean on Pete, Clio Barnard’s Dark River, Michael Pearce’s Beast, Yorgos Lanthimos’s The Killing of a Sacred Deer, Rungano Nyoni’s I Am Not a Witch, and Danny Boyle’s T2 Trainspotting. Forthcoming releases include Bart Layton’s American Animals, Sebastián Lelio’s Disobedience, Pawel Pawlikowski’s Cold War, Lenny Abrahamson’s The Little Stranger, Yorgos Lanthimos’s The Favourite, Tinge Krishnan’s Been So Long, Iain Morris’s The Festival, Mike Leigh’s Peterloo, Steve McQueen’s Widows, Stephen Merchant’s Fighting With My Family, Tom Harper’s Wild Rose and Jim Hosking’s An Evening With Beverly Luff Linn. Films in production or pre-production include Armando Iannucci’s The Personal History of David Copperfield, Asif Kapadia’s Maradona, Nick Rowland’s Calm With Horses, Justin Kurzel’s True History of the Kelly Gang, Coky Giedroyc’s adaptation of Caitlin Moran’s How To Build a Girl, and Chaplin from Peter Middleton and James Spinney.

For further information please visit www.film4productions.com.

 

ABOUT LIONSGATE UK

Lionsgate U.K. is the diversified U.K.-based filmed entertainment arm of Lionsgate (NYSE:LGF), a premier next generation global content leader with a diversified presence in motion picture production and distribution, television programming and syndication, home entertainment, international distribution and sales, branded channel platforms, interactive ventures and games, and location-based entertainment. The company (formerly Redbus Film Distributors) was acquired by Lionsgate in October 2005 and has since established a reputation in the U.K. as a leading producer and distributor and acquirer of commercially successful and critically acclaimed product, recently releasing the 6 time BAFTA and OSCAR winning “LA LA LAND”, the BAFTA and OSCAR winner “HACKSAW RIDGE as well as more recently the festival hit ON CHESIL BEACH, THEIR FINEST, HITMAN’S BODYGUARD, FILM STARS DON’T DIE IN LIVERPOOL and WONDER. Upcoming titles for the 2018 slate include Rupert Everett’s directorial debut THE HAPPY PRINCE, McQUEEN and THE SPY WHO DUMPED ME.

The company’s home entertainment business is an industry leader in box office-to-DVD and box office-to-VOD revenue conversion rates. Lionsgate handles a prestigious and prolific library of approximately 16,000 motion picture and television titles that is an important source of recurring revenue and serves as a foundation for the growth of the Company's core businesses. The Lionsgate and Summit brands remain synonymous with original, daring, quality entertainment in markets around the world

www.lionsgatefilms.co.uk