For my money there’s no greater modern-day adaptation of classic literature than Alfonso Cuarón’s 1998 version of Great Expectations starring a handsome Ethan Hawke and a not-yet-oversaturated Gwyneth Paltrow. There was also a scary Robert De Niro and and even more haunting Anne Bancroft, and don’t forget about the equally terrifying score featuring the la la las of Tori Amos. (Second place, if you’re wondering, is She’s the Man, the teenage version of Twelfth Night starring Amanda Bynes, naturally.) That doesn’t, of course, mean that the classic Charles Dickens story of love, revenge, and redemption can’t hit the big screen again, which is why Mike Newell is bringing it back in all its British costume drama glory.
Newell is the director of such celebrated movies like Four Weddings and a Funeral and Donnie Brasco (as well as the less-celebrated Pushing Tin and Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time). But based on the trailer alone, it looks like it’ll be a lush, faithful adaptation, one that boasts the star talents of Ralph Fiennes and Helena Bonham Carter (you think she just shows up on set in her own clothes?) and relative unknowns Jeremy Irvine and Holliday Grainger. Get ready for Oscar Buzz Season, everyone!