Yes, yes I know, it’s only a couple weeks past Labor Day, and it might not seem like it, but the holidays are fast approaching. And by holidays, I mean Halloween and then Thanksgiving and then Christmas and then New Year’s. You know what that means? Holiday movies! It’s not the delightful bevy that we were once accustomed to, but the new trailer for The Man Who Invented Christmas (2017) might just be a bevy of entertainment all on its own.

The Man Who Invented Christmas is inspired by the true story (as near as we or the filmmakers can tell) of Charles Dickens, played by Downton Abbey‘s (2010-15) Dan Stevens, and his journey of bringing the classic book A Christmas Carol to life in 1843. In some instances, it looks like the book will literally be brought to life, with Dickens’ characters coming before him and interacting with him as he writes them. By extension, we might just see, implied by the title, how much an effect and influence this story had and continues to have on the world and Christmas at large.

While we have certainly had our share of Christmas Carol adaptations and Scrooge performances over the years, whether it be Kelsey Grammer, Albert Finney, Jim Carrey, George C. Scott, or Sir Michael Caine, this story looks to be a different and fresh take on the haunting holiday tale, told from the author’s presumed perspective. This time, Christopher Plummer (The Sound of Music (1965)) plays the old “humbug.”

It’s always nice around the holidays when there are actually some wholesome, family friendly movies that get us in the Christmas spirit. The last few years have offered us a almost a drought of holiday movies, and the ones we get are usually the R-rated raunch fest “comedies” like Bad Santa 2 (2016) or A Bad Moms Christmas (2017) (maybe that’s our clue, they have the word “bad” in the title), that don’t really bring anything new or cheery to the season.

This year though is faring a little better with this film and a little less offensive of a comedy in Daddy’s Home 2 (2017). The Man Who Invented Christmas without a doubt looks to be a funny, emotional, and magical holiday feast that might not just get us in the spirit of the holidays, but like A Christmas Carol, might help us to be kinder to one another. There is something so heartwarming about Victorian London at Christmastime, seeing the cold snowy streets but knowing there’s a warm fire with family and friends just inside the next house on the lane.

Directed by Bharat Nalluri (Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day (2008)), The Man Who Invented Christmas will star Dan Stevens (Beauty and the Beast (2017)), Christopher Plummer (Beginners (2010)), Jonathan Pryce (Pirates of the Caribbean (2003-07)), Miriam Margolyes (Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002)), Simon Callow (Outlander (2014-)), and Donald Sumpter (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)), and apparates into theaters this holiday season on November 22, 2017.

Check out the first official trailer here, and God Bless Us, Everyone!

The Man Who Invented Christmas Trailer