Focus Features announced filming has begun on Hyde Park on Hudson starring Bill Murray and Laura Linney, and directed by Roger Michell (Notting Hill). Richard Nelson wrote the script with Michell, Kevin Loader, and David Aukin producing.
The cast of the historical drama also includes Olivia Williams, Samuel West, Olivia Colman, Elizabeth Wilson, Elizabeth Marvel, and Eleanor Bron. Filming is taking place in the UK with Focus aiming for a late 2012 theatrical release.
Announcing the start of production, Focus Features CEO James Schamus said, “Filmgoers will be intrigued by this unique exploration of the all-too-human side of one of history’s great men. Roger is an actor’s director who will guide Bill and Laura through their playing of Richard’s script, which beautifully encompasses satire and drama.”
The official synopsis: “In June 1939, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (Murray) and his wife Eleanor (Williams) host the King and Queen of England (West and Colman) for a weekend at the Roosevelt home at Hyde Park on Hudson, in upstate New York – the first-ever visit of a reigning English monarch to America. With Britain facing imminent war with Germany, the Royals are desperately looking to FDR for support. But international affairs must be juggled with the complexities of FDR’s domestic establishment, as wife, mother, and mistresses all conspire to make the royal weekend an unforgettable one. Seen through the eyes of Daisy (Linney), Franklin’s distant cousin, neighbor, and intimate, the weekend will produce not only a special relationship between two great nations, but, for Daisy – and through her, for us all – a deeper understanding of the mysteries of love and friendship.”
Source: movies.about.com – Hyde park on Hudson starts shooting
