'The King's Speech' Wins The People’s Choice prize at Toronto (21/09/2010)
The King's Speech, directed by Tom Hooper and written by David Seidler, was awarded the People's Choice prize at Toronto Film Festival earlier this month, a mark of recognition which previously set British film Slumdog Millionaire on the awards success trail. The King's Speech shot partly at the Bradford Bulls Stadium and Leeds United's Elland Road. Screen Yorkshire provided ongoing crew and locations support during the Yorkshire leg of the shoot, which employed a number of regional crew and also features hundreds of local extras in period costume.
The King's Speech (See-Saw Films/Bedlam Productions) saw The Damned United Director Tom Hooper return to the region in December 2009 with this feature-length depiction of the unorthodox relationship between England's reluctant King George VI, plagued by a nervous stammer, and the irreverent Australian speech therapist who cures him. The film stars Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, Helena Bonham Carter, Timothy Spall, Derek Jacobi, Jennifer Ehle and Michael Gambon. It is produced by Iain Canning of See-Saw Films from the UK with Emile Sherman in Australia Films and Bedlam Productions's Gareth Unwin.
The King's Speech is due to have it's UK premiere at the London FIlm Festival on 21st October and will be released in UK cinemas on 11th January 2010.
THE KING'S SPEECH is based on the true story of Queen Elizabeth II's father and his remarkable friendship with maverick speech therapist Lionel Logue. As the second son of George V, Prince Albert "Bertie" was not expected to ascend to the throne, but when his brother Edward chose to abdicate to marry Wallis Simpson, Bertie was his successor and in 1936 he became King George VI. Thrust into the international spotlight, he engaged Lionel Logue who helped him find a voice to lead the nation.
Three-time BAFTA nominee Colin Firth (A Single Man, Mamma Mia!) stars in THE KING'S SPEECH as Prince Albert, alongside his Shakespeare in Love colleague, Oscar®-winner Geoffrey Rush (Pirates of the Caribbean, Shine), as speech therapist Lionel Logue. The multi-award-winning cast includes Helena Bonham Carter (Harry Potter, Sweeney Todd) as Queen Elizabeth (later the Queen Mother), with BAFTA-nominee Jennifer Ehle (Pride and Glory, Pride and Prejudice) as Logue's wife Myrtle, Guy Pearce (The Hurt Locker, Memento) as the abdicating King Edward VIII, Derek Jacobi (The Golden Compass, Gosford Park) as the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Cosmo Lang, Timothy Spall (The Damned United) as Winston Churchill and Michael Gambon (Harry Potter) as King George V.
THE KING'S SPEECH is a See-Saw Films/Bedlam Productions feature film presented by The Weinstein Company and the UK Film Council, in association with Momentum Pictures, Aegis Film Fund and Molinare London.
