London, 10 January 2020
Principal photography began this week in Yorkshire on THE DUKE starring Academy Award winners Jim Broadbent (Iris) and Helen Mirren (The Queen) and featuring Fionn Whitehead (Dunkirk) and Matthew Goode (The Imitation Game).
THE DUKE, based on a remarkable true story of one man’s attempt to make a better world, is directed by BAFTA award winner Roger Michell (My Cousin Rachel, Notting Hill). The film is based on a script written by Richard Bean (One Man, Two Guvnors) and Clive Coleman and is produced by Nicky Bentham (Moon) of Neon Films.
In 1961, Kempton Bunton, a 60 year old taxi driver, stole Goya’s portrait of the Duke of Wellington from the National Gallery in London. It was the first (and remains the only) theft in the Gallery’s history.
Kempton sent ransom notes saying that he would return the painting on condition that the government invested more in care for the elderly - he had long campaigned for pensioners to receive free television.
What happened next became the stuff of legend. Only 50 years later did the full story emerge - Kempton had spun a web of lies. The only truth was that he was a good man, determined to change the world and save his marriage - how and why he used the Duke to achieve that is a wonderfully uplifting tale.
Michell reunites with his creative team from My Cousin Rachel: Director of Photography Mike Eley, Costume Designer Dinah Collin and Editor Kristina Hetherington. Make Up and Hair Designer is Karen Hartley Thomas (The Personal History of David Copperfield) and Production Designer is Kristian Milsted (Killing Eve).
THE DUKE is a Pathé, Ingenious Media and Screen Yorkshire presentation of a Neon Films Production. Executive Producers are Cameron McCracken and Jenny Borgars for Pathé, Andrea Scarso for Ingenious Media and Hugo Heppell for Screen Yorkshire.
Pathé will distribute the film in the UK, France and Switzerland and will handle sales for the rest of the world.
For further information contact:
Jonathan Rutter/ Emma Eliades Robinson / Ellen Steers, Premier
Firstname.surname@premiercomms.com / 020 7292 8330
ABOUT PATHÉ
Pathé operates as a film studio in France, the UK, the Netherlands and Switzerland. It is involved in all aspects of filmmaking, from development and production through to international sales, distribution and exhibition.
Films produced/distributed by Pathé range from The Queen to Slumdog Millionaire and from Philomena to Selma. Pathe’s latest production is Judy starring Renee Zellweger. In recent years Pathé’s productions have won 16 BAFTAs (66 nominations) and 13 Oscars (46 nominations).
Pathé International handles the international marketing and sales of Pathé’s own productions and also acquires third party films for worldwide representation. As one of Europe’s leading sales agents, Pathé International has a significant presence at all major film markets and festivals.
www.pathe.co.uk
@patheuk
ABOUT INGENIOUS MEDIA
For 21 years, Ingenious Media has been at the forefront of investing in the global creative economy and in that time has raised and deployed over $10 billion. Ingenious Media has been involved in the production of a diverse slate of films, including the award-winning Life of Pi, Avatar, Oscar-nominated Carol, Brooklyn and Selma, five films in the successful X-Men franchise, Rise of the Planet of the Apes and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, breakout British hits Suffragette and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, as well as acclaimed television programmes such as The Fall, Dr. Foster and The Honourable Woman. Titles currently on release or coming soon include Judy starring Renée Zellweger, Peter Cattaneo’s Military Wives starring Kristin Scott Thomas, Benedict Andrews’s Seberg starring Kristen Stewart and Jack O’Connell.
ABOUT SCREEN YORKSHIRE
Screen Yorkshire champions the film, TV, games and digital industries in Yorkshire and the Humber, UK. Its aim is to secure and support the very best projects, companies and individuals, helping to make the region one of the most sought-after destinations for production in the UK.
Screen Yorkshire offers production financing through its Yorkshire Content Fund. Credits include: Official Secrets, Hope Gap, All Creatures Great and Small, Ackley Bridge, Dark River, Yardie, Ghost Stories, Stardog & Turbocat, Journeyman, Dad’s Army, Swallows and Amazons, Testament of Youth, ’71, National Treasure, The Great Train Robbery, Peaky Blinders, Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell and Hank Zipzer.
Screen Yorkshire delivers the Film Office services for Yorkshire & Humber and has been leading the development of the Yorkshire Screen Hub, a cluster for the screen industries, recognised by the BFI in 2016 as the first awardee of funds from its Creative Cluster Challenge Fund. Screen Yorkshire also works with ScreenSkills, NFTS and the BFI to develop regional and UK wide talent by devising and delivering industry schemes
www.screenyorkshire.co.uk
@screenyorkshire
