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Great Expectations will premiere in the United States on Hulu on March 26, 2023. The upcoming show is an adaptation of the classic Charles Dickens novel of the same name from 1861.
The six-part limited series will release the first two episodes on March 26. The remaining episodes will air weekly on Sundays following the premiere, according to FX's announcement on February 7.
The miniseries will star Fionn Whitehead as Pip, Olivia Colman as Miss Havisham, Ashley Thomas as Jaggers, Johnny Harris as Magwitch, Shalom Brune-Franklin as Estella, Hayley Squires as Sara, Owen McDonnell as Joe, Trystant Gale as Compeyson, and Matthew Berry as Mr. Pumblechuck.
The show is written and executive produced by Steven Knight, who is best known for writing screenplays for the films Closed Circuit, Dirty Pretty Things, and Eastern Promises, and directing the films Locke and Hummingbird.
What to expect from Great Expectations on Hulu?
The teaser trailer for Great Expectations was released on February 7, and fans got to witness the first glimpse of the much-anticipated show.
The trailer showed Fionn Whitehead's Pip entering a room and getting greeted by a terrifying-looking Olivia Colman's Miss Havisham. Colman is certainly not new to period dramas, as she has previously portrayed Queen Anne in The Favourite and Queen Elizabeth in The Crown.
Miss Havisham says,
"Let me see you. What a priced creature we have fished from the river."
From glimpses of the trailer, it looks like a lot of money has been put into the makeup, costume, and set design for the show. Tom Hardy and Ridley Scott will serve as executive producers along with Marina Brackenbury and the BBC’s Dean Baker, David W. Zucker, Kate Crowe, and Mona Qureshi.
The series will be a collaborative effort between FX Productions, the BBC, Scott Free, and Hardy Son & Baker.
But this will not be the first screen adaptation of Great Expectations. The novel was adapted into a three-part BBC series in 2011 and a feature film in 2012, both of the same name. The 2011 version saw Gillian Anderson as Miss Havisham, Douglas Booth as Pip, and Ray Winstone as Magwitch. The 2012 film featured Ralph Fiennes as Magwitch, Jeremy Irvine as Pip, and Helena Bonham Carter as Miss Havisham.
The show's writer, Steven Knight, previously created Peaky Blinders, which starred Cillian Murphy, Sam Neill, Helen McCrory, and Paul Anderson, among other popular names.
What is the Great Expectations novel about?
Great Expectations is Charles Dickens' thirteenth novel and his last finished work, published in 1861.
The story follows Pip, an orphan who works as an apprentice for a blacksmith in a country village. His mind is filled with dreams and expectations, and his luck suddenly brings him to London, where he enters high society but quickly gets himself involved in a dark world of possibilities after meeting Miss Havisham.
The novel's synopsis, according to Goodreads, reads,
"Great Expectations charts the progress of Pip from childhood through often painful experiences to adulthood, as he moves from the Kent marshes to busy, commercial London, encountering a variety of extraordinary characters ranging from Magwitch, the escaped convict, to Miss Havisham, locked up with her unhappy past and living with her ward, the arrogant, beautiful Estella."
Pip must discover himself, his needs and wants, and what makes him happy.
Great Expectations will premiere in the United States of America on Hulu on March 26, 2023.
