Peacock Announces Premiere Date and Releases Images and Trailer for New Original Film Genie
The Fairytale Comedy Film Starring Melissa McCarthy and Paapa Essiedu Streams on Peacock Nov 22
This Christmas, from Richard Curtis, the Oscar®-nominated screenwriter of Love Actually, Four Weddings and a Funeral and Notting Hill, comes a holiday fairytale comedy about a genie, a man, and landing one last chance to fix the mess you’ve made of your life.
Oscar® nominee Melissa McCarthy stars as Flora, a genie trapped for more than 2,000 years inside an antique jewelry box because of one teeny-tiny little misunderstanding with a sorcerer back in 77 B.C.
After millennia of being summoned to grant wishes of gold doubloons and hot babes for greedy men, Flora is accidentally called to service by Bernard Bottle (Emmy nominee Paapa Kwakye Essiedu; I May Destroy You), whose life is unraveling around him.
Bernard’s been so busy working that he has lost sight of his marriage to his wife Julie (Tony nominee Denée Benton; The Gilded Age) and the childhood of his young daughter, Eve (Jordyn Mcintosh; Emancipation). When Bernard misses Eve’s birthday 12 days before Christmas because of work, Julie decides it’s time for a trial separation. And then Bernard’s tyrannical boss (Tony winner Alan Cumming; The Good Wife) fires him.
Alone in his New York City apartment, a despondent Bernard dusts off a jewelry box he finds in their home and unintentionally releases the one entity who just might be able to help him get his family back. Maybe. Possibly. It’s a longshot, frankly. But in the process, Flora and Bernard will discover that love, and an unexpected friendship, can unleash a special holiday magic all its own.
From Working Title, the Oscar® nominated producers of The Theory of Everything, Darkest Hour, Love Actually and About a Boy, Genie is directed by Sam Boyd (In A Relationship, creator of the acclaimed series Love Life) and written by Richard Curtis, based on his 1991 teleplay Bernard and the Genie. The all-star supporting cast including Screen Actors Guild nominee Marc Maron (GLOW), Screen Actors Guild winner Luis Guzmán (Hightown), Tate Ellington (The Brave) and Tony winner LaChanze (Broadway’s The Color Purple).
From Universal and Working Title, Genie is produced by Working Title’s Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner, by Riva Marker (The Guilty, Beasts of No Nation) and by Richard Curtis. The film is executive produced by Melissa McCarthy, Caroline Jaczko, Nicole King, Stacy O’Neil, Alexandra Loewy and Sarah-Jane Robinson.
Cast: Melissa McCarthy, Paapa Essiedu, Denée Benton, Marc Maron, Jordyn McIntosh, with Luis Guzmán and Alan Cumming
Director: Sam Boyd
Written by: Richard Curtis, based on his teleplay “Bernard and the Genie”
