‘The Lost King’ will be released in cinemas on 7th October 2022 to coincide with the 10th Anniversary of the discovery of the remains of Richard III, the last English king to die in battle.
Starring Sally Hawkins (‘The Shape of Water’), the film tells the remarkable true story of how one ‘ordinary’ woman overcame every obstacle to track down the final resting place of Richard III and give him an honourable burial.
In 2012, having been lost for over 500 years, the remains of King Richard III were discovered beneath a carpark in Leicester. The search had been orchestrated by an amateur historian, Philippa Langley, whose unrelenting research had been met with incomprehension by her friends and family and with scepticism by experts and academics.
‘The Lost King’ is the life-affirming true story of a woman who refused to be ignored and who took on the country’s most eminent historians, forcing them to think again about one of the most controversial kings in England’s history.
Hawkins stars as Philippa Langley with Steve Coogan (‘Stan & Ollie’) as her husband, John Langley; and Harry Lloyd (‘The Theory of Everything’) as Richard III.
‘The Lost King’ reunites the team behind ‘Philomena’ with director Stephen Frears, and writers Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope.
Coogan said “It’s been wonderful to reunite with Stephen and Jeff to bring this extraordinary story to cinemas. Philippa Langley’s passion, hard work and determination literally changed history, and we all felt it was important that her and Richard III’s story was told.”
The film is produced by Coogan, Christine Langan (‘The Queen’) and Dan Winch (‘A Very English Scandal’) and is a Baby Cow production for Pathé, BBC Film, Ingenious Media and Screen Scotland.
Executive Producers are Cameron McCracken and Jenny Borgars for Pathé; Rose Garnett for BBC Film; Andrea Scarso for Ingenious; Jeff Pope and Philippa Langley. The film was Co-produced by Wendy Griffin.
