There's a new movie version of Dickens' Great Expectations in the works, this time with screenwriter Rowan Joffe working on the script, Mike Newell directing and Elizabeth Karlsen and Stephen Woolley producing. The hope is to start shooting this autumn, with a 2012 release date set to coincide with author Charles Dickens' bi-centenary.
So who's going to star in this new take on the classic tale? Well, according to Variety, Jeremy Irvine, the young man picked by Steven Spielberg to play the lead in the upcoming War Horse, is in talks to play the role of Pip, while Helena Bonham Carter is being lined up as Miss Havisham.
If you don't know the story, it follows Pip, an orphan who becomes a distinguished gentleman thanks to the help of an unknown benfeactor. He's also gets involved with Estella, a childhood friend who is being groomed by the bitter Miss Havisham to make men fall deeply for her and then to break their hearts, as revenge for fact Miss Havisham has never gotten over being left at the altar.
It's been adapted numerous times before, including David Lean's 1946 classic and a 1998 version helmed by Alfonso Cuaron, but it's a wonderful tale, so adding one more adaptation to the mix shouldn't hurt.