First look at Melissa McCarthy in the remake of Richard Curtis' Christmas film

Melissa McCarthy and Paapa Essiedu can now be seen for the first time in pictures of their upcoming Christmas film “Bernard and the Genie”, a remake of the television film of the same name by Richard Curtis.

The original 1991 television movie, written by Curtis, starred Lenny Henry, Rowan Atkinson and Alan Cumming.

This time, The Little Mermaid star McCarthy will play the Genie, while Essiedu will play a workaholic man who enlists the Genie's help to win back his family before Christmas.

In the photos, McCarthy sports bright orange curls and an eccentric blue outfit consisting of harem pants and a shirt. In another photo, McCarthy looks a little more glamorous as she and Essiedu lug shopping bags down the street.

Curtis will again write the screenplay, while Sam Boyd, who created the HBO Max series Love Life with Anna Kendrick, will direct.

This will be Curtis' first film project since 2019's “Yesterday,” although he is best known for the romantic comedies “Four Weddings and a Funeral,” “Notting Hill” and “Love Actually.”

Last year, Curtis admitted that the lack of diversity in Love Actually had made him uncomfortable.

In the hour-long special with US television network ABC, “The Laughter & Secrets of Love Actually: 20 Years Later,” Curtis said: “There are things you would change, but thank God society is changing. My film is inevitably going to feel dated at times. The lack of diversity makes me uncomfortable and I feel a little stupid.”

“There is such an extraordinary love that is felt every minute in so many ways all over the world. [It] makes me wish my film was better; it makes me wish [that] I made a documentary just to observe this.”

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