Bleecker Street announced today it has acquired U.S. and select territory rights to THE MAN WHO INVENTED CHRISTMAS, to be directed by Bharat Nalluri (Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day). The cast includes Dan Stevens (Beauty and the Beast, FX’s upcoming “Legion”) as “Charles Dickens,” Christopher Plummer (Academy Award winner for Beginners, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) as “Scrooge,” and Jonathan Pryce (“Wolf Hall,” “Game of Thrones”) as “Dickens’ father.” The Solution is handling rights for the rest of the world.

The film is produced by Robert Mickelson and Ian Sharples, with Paula Mazur, Mitchell Kaplan, Andrew Karpen and Vadim Jean, executive producing. Parallel Films and Rhombus Media are co-production partners. The script is written by Susan Coyne (“Slings & Arrows,” “Mozart in the Jungle”), based on the book The Man Who Invented Christmas by Les Standiford, published by Crown. The film recounts how Charles Dickens created the classic holiday fable, A Christmas Carol.

October 1843. Charles Dickens was broke and distressed. Despite early success, his last three books had failed. Rejected by his publishers, he set out to write and self-publish a book he hoped would keep his family afloat. This is the story of the six fever-pitched weeks in which Dickens created A Christmas Carol, the masterpiece that changed the holiday into the merry family event we know today.

Bharat Nalluri stated, “This is a Dickens we have not seen before, young, driven and on a mission. A story full of the wit, wisdom and warmth he gave us all. What a privilege it is to be directing this wonderful film.”

Andrew Karpen, CEO of Bleecker Street stated, “THE MAN WHO INVENTED CHRISTMAS is an emotionally rich story of Dickens’ creative process and illustrates his love of the holiday spirit. We look forward to bringing Bharat’s film to audiences for the 2017 holiday season.”

The acquisition was negotiated by Kent Sanderson and Avy Eschenasy on behalf of Bleecker Street, and CAA on behalf of the producers. Lisa Wilson of The Solution is representing international rights.