Armando Iannucci casts Dev Patel as David Copperfield in modern retelling of classic Dickens story

The Thick of It creator will direct

Actor Dev Patel (Getty Images)

Armando Iannucci has been working on an adaptation of Charles Dickens' David Copperfield for some time, the project initially announced back in March 2015 by BBC Films.

Finally, some firm details about the movie have been confirmed: according to Variety, the Oscar-nominated actor Dev Patel will play the titular character who Dickens.

The Thick of It creator’s movie will be a “faithful” modern retelling of David Copperfield, which was first published in 1850 and sees the character — modelled after himself — develop from hard-done youth to successful author.

Iannucci will direct the adaptation, which has been co-written with longtime writing partner Simon Blackwell. Kevin Loader and Iannucci will produce.

"[Iannucci] is a Dickens aficionado, so he wants it to be very authentic but it will have his own sensitivity,” Christine Langan of BBC Films said when initially announcing the project.

Since starring in the Oscar-nominated Lion, Patel has been remarkably absent from cinema screens, next appearing in Anthony Maras’s Hotel Mumbai, alongside Armie Hammer and Jason Isaacs. Meanwhile, Iannucci remains busy working on an upcoming science fiction series for HBO.