The only piece we’ve run about the upcoming Richard Curtis comedy The Boat That Rocked was penned by the departed Mr. Beaks back in February, and his tone nails why we’ve let the thing sail right off the radar. It’s a Richard Curtis picture, after all, and no matter what he may have done twenty years ago, recent days have seen him behind the typewriter on increasingly unreliable Mr. Bean material and both Bridget Jones films. I enjoyed his Love Actually like a rum-soaked holiday cake —  soggy and too eager to please — but have never considered it something I want to regularly revisit.

But new character posters show off not only Rhys Ifans and Bill Nighy, the presence of whom Beaks covered months ago, but also Philip Seymour Hoffman and Nick Frost. Those two men, and in particular the idea of them working together, raises my interest in the movie considerably. Girl of the moment Gemma Arterton is also on board. Take into account the subject matter — a pirate radio station that operated off a North Sea boat in the 1960s — and I’m almost ready for a seat on opening day.