FX today, on the anniversary of Charles Dickens’ birthday, set the premiere date for Great Expectations, Steven Knight’s limited series adaptation of Dickens’ classic. The series’ key art was also released today.
The six-part series from FX and BBC will premiere Sunday, March 26 exclusively on Hulu in the U.S. and feature the first two episodes. Great Expectations is produced in association with the BBC who will air the series in the UK. Internationally, it will be available to stream on Star+ in Latin America and on Disney+ under the Star banner at a later date.
The newly released key art, true to FX and Steven Knight’s style, features one of literature’s most iconic characters, Miss Havisham ensnaring her pawns, Pip and Estella, in the headdress she still wears from her wedding that never was. Entangled in Miss Havisham’s bitter web are memorable elements from the tale including the decaying Satis House, clocks stopped at 20 minutes to nine, as well as the prison ship and manacles that led Magwitch to Pip, thus beginning the story of Dickens’ beloved Great Expectations.
Great Expectations is the coming-of-age story of “Pip,” an orphan who yearns for a greater lot in life, until a twist of fate and the evil machinations of the mysterious and eccentric “Miss Havisham” shows him a dark world of possibilities. Under the great expectations placed upon him, Pip will have to work out the true cost of this new world and whether it will truly make him the man he wishes to be. A damning critique of the class system, Dickens’ novel was published in 1861 after first releasing it in a series of weekly chapters beginning in December 1860.
Fionn Whitehead stars as “Pip,” leading a stellar cast featuring Olivia Colman as “Miss Havisham,” Shalom Brune-Franklin, Ashley Thomas, Johnny Harris, Hayley Squires, Owen McDonnell, Trystan Gravelle, Laurie Ogden, Rudi Dharmalingam, Tom Sweet, Chloe Lea and Matt Berry.
Knight serves as writer, and also executive producer alongside Tom Hardy, Ridley Scott, Dean Baker, David W. Zucker and Kate Crowe. Brady Hood and Samira Radsi serve as directors. Great Expectations is produced by FX Productions in association with the BBC, Scott Free and Hardy Son & Baker.
About FX
FX, a division of Disney General Entertainment, is a global multiplatform brand that develops, produces, commissions and markets original programming for Hulu and the FX and FXX linear channels in the U.S., and Star+ in Latin America and Disney+ in all other international territories. The FX brand mark appears above the title across its entire slate of originals.
Over the past two decades, FX has been responsible for some the most-critically acclaimed and award-winning shows on television. Some of the brand’s current and legacy titles include the dramas American Horror Story, American Crime Story, The Americans, Damages, Fargo, Justified, Nip/Tuck, The Old Man, The Patient, Pose, Rescue Me, The Shield and Sons of Anarchy; the comedies Archer, Atlanta, The Bear, Better Things, DAVE, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Reservation Dogs and What We Do in the Shadows; and a growing slate of docuseries and documentary films.
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