The Personal History of David Copperfield
Orphaned orphan David Copperfield fights a chaotic Victorian world to discover his voice and claim his destiny as a writer.
“From rags to riches... and back again.”
Synopsis
This adaptation of Charles Dickens’ semi-autobiographical novel, *The Personal History of David Copperfield*, offers a fresh and distinctive interpretation set in the 1840s. It follows the life of the title character as he moves through a turbulent world in search of his place within it. The story traces David’s journey from a difficult childhood to his eventual realization of his talent as a writer. His experiences are marked by moments of both humor and tragedy, all conveyed with a vivid sense of life, color, and humanity.
Credits
Related titles
No curated related titles yet. Use the edit affordance to add "More from this director", "Same franchise", or "Adaptation source material" entries — every change goes through the wiki review queue.
How many hands made this film
The scale of the collaboration
Principal cast & crew: 22
These are the principals we have on file — the full crew ran to the hundreds. Every film this size was made by far more hands than any credits list ever names.
Why a floor?
This is a minimum, not a total. We only count the credits we’ve captured so far, and coverage is uneven — a blockbuster might show a few hundred names while another of the same size shows a couple dozen. The real crews all ran into the thousands. The number here only grows as full credits are enriched — so we frame it as a floor, never a headcount.
Craft leads on file
Edited by Mick AudsleyShot by Zac NicholsonScored by Christopher WillisDesigned by Cristina Casali
Box Office
2019 · Box office
📉 Underperformed — grossed 0.7× its budget
Why 2.5×?
Cinemas keep roughly half of every ticket sold, and a wide release’s marketing often costs about as much again as the film — so a movie needs to gross around 2.5× its production budget just to break even theatrically. It’s a rule of thumb, not the studio’s ledger (home video and streaming come later).
Worldwide gross
$11.6M
Also known as
- David Copperfield – Einmal Reichtum und zurückde
- L'Histoire personnelle de David Copperfieldfr
- La vita straordinaria di David Copperfieldit
Community tags
Be the first to tag this page — tags appear right away. Try a theme, capability, or subject (e.g. WWII, heist, slow burn, time travel, A24).
Help complete this page
We’re missing mpaa rating. Sign in to add what you know.
Cast & Crew
22 unique people credited
Top billed cast
Fisayo Akinade
as Markham
Nikki Amuka Bird
as Mrs. Steerforth
Albie Atkinson
as Mealy Potatoes
Aneurin Barnard
as Steerforth
Dev Patel
as David Copperfield
Hugh Laurie
as Mr Dick
Tilda Swinton
as Betsey Trotwood
Peter Capaldi
as Mr Micawber
Tuwaine Barrett
as Referee Boy
Nigel Betts
as Creditor
Suzie Harman
as … Costume Design
Directors
1Writers
3Producers
2Other crew
7Parents Guide
AI Personalities
Advisory Bot AI
I keep the family-safety picture honest — community advisories, AI-moderated, summarized without spin.
Ratings & reviews
We’re attempting to crowdsource this data.
Please submit below if you know where it’s available in your region — accurate confirmations help everyone find what they’re looking for.
Where to watch
Not currently streaming on any platform we track.
Gallery
Add imageNo community images for The Personal History of David Copperfield yet
Add a still, a storyboard, or concept art — every image gets its own page where members can discuss it.
Trailers
No trailers logged for The Personal History of David Copperfield yet — add the first one below.
Spot a trailer we’re missing?
Add a trailer from any film, show, or game.
Media & Uploads
Scripts, set photos, storyboards, score sketches — community-curated reference material for film students and industry professionals.
Did you or a loved one work on The Personal History of David Copperfield?
Every stage matters — pitch decks and treatments from development, location scouts and table-reads from pre-production, set photos and crew anecdotes from production, edit-bay notes from post, and press kits, festival memories, or marketing ephemera from distribution. Any moment that didn't make the press tour, any document or photograph that's been sitting in a box — please share it so it's not lost to time.
We particularly welcome contributions from writers, producers, cast, crew, festival programmers, distributors, marketing teams, their families, and anyone who was there at any stage.
Sign in to contribute scripts, stills, photos, or behind-the-scenes stories.
Be the first to share something on The Personal History of David Copperfield.
Scripts, scans, photos, score sketches — anything that helps another reader study this work.
Memorable quotes
Browse all →No quotes logged for The Personal History of David Copperfield yet — add the first memorable line below.
Got a quote we’re missing?
Submit a line from any film, show, or game.
The conversation
Loading the conversation…
Comments (0)
on The Personal History of David CopperfieldNo comments yet. Be the first to share what you think.
Edit history
Loading edit history…