Here’s a first look at Oscar-winning duo Jim Broadbent and Helen Mirren in Roger Michell’s art heist comedy The Duke.
As we revealed back in October, the heavyweight Brit acting duo are leading the cast of the film based on the true story of 60-year-old taxi driver Kempton Bunton who, in 1961, stole a Goya painting from the National Gallery in London.
Bunton sent a ransom note saying he would only return the picture on condition that the UK government agreed to provide free TV for the elderly. However, it turned out he was spinning a web of lies, with the full story not emerging for another 50 years. The incident was the first, and still only, theft in the National Gallery’s history.
Fionn Whitehead and Matthew Goode are also in the cast. The script was written by Richard Bean (One Man, Two Guvnors) and Clive Coleman and the film is produced by Nicky Bentham (Moon) of Neon Films. Backing came from Ingenious Media and Screen Yorkshire.
Pathé will distribute the film in the UK, France and Switzerland and is handling sales for the rest of the world.