“I am the Ghost of Christmas Present. Look upon me! You have never seen the like of me before!”
That quote from Charles Dickens’ immortal classic “A Christmas Carol” is a bit ironic, as the 1843 story has seen nearly two dozen filmic adaptations since the advent of the medium, starting in 1901 all the way through the Jim Carrey/Robert Zemeckis performance capture version in 2009, with just as many done for television. Now, The Hollywood Reporter is acting as the Ghost of Christmas Future, having revealed yet another adaptation is in the works at Megan Ellison’s Annapurna Pictures with two-time Oscar nominee Bennett Miller (Capote, Foxcatcher) attached to direct and Oscar winner Sir Tom Stoppard (Brazil, Shakespeare in Love) penning the screenplay adaptation.
Not much is known about this new version of A Christmas Carol other than it will be set in the 19th century, the same as the original story. Ellison and Miller will produce alongside Scott Rudin and Jennifer Fox.
This will be Miller’s first directorial effort since 2014’s Foxcatcher, which was also made for Annapurna. Four-time Tony-winning playwright Stoppard’s next screenwriting effort is the period romantic drama Tulip Fever, starring Alicia Vikander, Cara Delevingne, Christoph Waltz. Although he is mostly known for writing historical epics (Empire of the Sun, Anna Karenina) Stoppard also has a history of doctoring Hollywood tentpole fantasies like Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Sleepy Hollow and Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith.
