The BBC adaptation of Leo Tolstoy’s epic literary masterpiece War & Peace has officially snapped up Paul Dano (12 years A Slave, There Will Be Blood) and Lily James (Downton Abbey, Cinderella). BAFTA nominated actor Dano will star as leading man Pierre Bezukhov with James playing Natasha Rostova. Deadline broke the news back in July that the pair were linked with the roles but confirmed the story in the early hours yesterday.

The six-part adaptation will be co-produced by The Weinstein Company and will see English director Tom Harper (The Woman in Black 2: Angel of Death) take the hot seat. Harper has crafted his art mostly working on British television shows like Misfits, This Is England ’86 and more recently Peaky Blinders.

The script has been written by Andrew Davies (Mr. Selfridge, House of Cards) who admits that the adaptation is “a thrilling, funny and heartbreaking story of love, war and family life.”

Lily James had this to say: “I am very excited and privileged to be playing Natasha in this co-production between BBC and The Weinstein Company of Tolstoy’s classic War And Peace. It is amazing to be part of such a prestigious cast and to appear in such a beautiful and rich adaptation by Andrew Davies.”

The ensemble cast also includes Stephen Rea (V For Vendetta), James Norton (Mr. Turner), Adrian Edmondson (Guest House Paradiso) and Greta Sacchi (Brideshead Revisited). Production is due to start in January and will shoot in Russia, Lithuania and Latvia.

Ben Stephenson, the BBC Controller of Drama has expressed his delight in the huge ambition set by themselves and The Weinstein Company: “The impressive array of talent assembled for this drama production is testament to the ambition and scale of this iconic story that we will bring to life for a new generation.”

Legendary producer Harvey Weinstein says : “I fell in love with Tolstoy’s War And Peace as a teenager when I read it for the first time. Putting an epic, iconic story like War And Peace on screen with a cast of this caliber is an incredible thrill.”

No air date has been set as yet but more details are sure to be announced once filming begins.

Gavin Logan – Follow me on Twitter