Tilda Swinton, Hugh Laurie Join Dev Patel in ‘David Copperfield’ (EXCLUSIVE)

Armando Iannucci’s new retelling of Charles Dickens’ “The Personal History of David Copperfield” is rounding out its cast.

Tilda Swinton, Hugh Laurie,”Dunkirk” breakout Aneurin Barnard, Ben Whishaw, Morfydd Clark, Anthony Welsh, and Rosalind Eleazar have all joined Dev Patel, who will play the title character. FilmNation could not be reached for comment.

The project will offer a modern take on Dickens’ title character as he navigates a chaotic world to find his elusive place within it. The original “David Copperfield” was first published in 1850 and describes the journey of the titular protagonist — who was modeled after Dickens himself, from impoverished childhood to becoming a successful author, thanks to perseverance and despite a lack of personal discipline.

Kevin Loader and Iannucci will produce the feature, which was developed with FilmNation. Iannucci is directing from a script he wrote with Simon Blackwell.

Iannucci and Blackwell previously collaborated with Tony Roche and Jesse Armstrong on the script for 2009’s “In the Loop,” which received an Academy Award nomination.

Iannucci created HBO’s political comedy “Veep” as an adaptation of his British sitcom, “The Thick of It.” He was the showrunner on “Veep” for the first four seasons, from 2012 to 2015. He recently directed the 2017 feature film “The Death of Stalin” and co-wrote the script with David Schneider, Ian Martin, and Peter Fellows.

Swinton is repped by UTA and Hamilton Hodell; Laurie is repped by WME and Hamilton Hodell; Barnard is repped by WME and the Artist Partnership; Whishaw is repped by CAA and Hamilton Hodell; Clark is repped by UTA, the Curtis Brown Group and Mosaic; Welsh is repped by 42 and Eleazar is repped by Rebecca Blond Associates.

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