Anthony Hopkins To Star As Composer George Frideric Handel In ‘The King Of Covent Garden’

Two-time Academy Award winner Anthony Hopkins is attached to star as baroque composer George Frideric Handel in a new feature titled The King of Covent Garden.

Embankment Films has launched global pre-sales on the pic. Pitched by the filmmakers as “a powerfully majestic celebration of genius breaking all the rules to create an anthem inspiring the popular imagination of global audiences,” the film is scheduled for a late fall 2025 release.

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Andrew Levitas (Minamata) directs from a script by Tim Slover. Dan Lupovitz (Death Defying Acts, Simpatico) and Kevan Van Thompson (Ballerina, Jojo Rabbit, The Crow, White Bird) produce. Mezzo-soprano Katherine Jenkins joins Peter Touche (Military Wives, Blinded By The Light, The Son) as executive producer.

“Hopkins and Handel are maestros of their art and together they create a joyous and uplifting cinematic event,” said Embankment’s Tim Haslam.

“The Hallelujah chorus is globally the most performed of choral favorites – perhaps a shared mindset of celebration. It features in a plethora of iconic entertainment, from Baywatch to The Simpsons, from Runaway Bride to Scrooged. In excess of 5 million people have seen a performance of Messiah in The Royal Albert Hall alone. Throughout the US there are over 800 performances per year. Handel’s music has been performed at every coronation of a British monarch since King George II.”

The film reunites Embankment with Hopkins following The Father, for which Hopkins was awarded his second Oscar.

Speaking on the pic, Levitas added: “The storytelling is hinged upon an unlikely pair, who meet each other at their lowest points, and together create a magnificent never-heard-before ‘sound for the people’: the groundbreaking masterpiece ‘Messiah’, the annual global bestseller for close to 300 years. Tim Slover’s writing is populated by passionate, real-life experience in all its color and dirt, creating a riveting human story with surprising contemporary relevancy, universal human connectivity, and spiritual uplift.”

Hopkins is represented by UTA and Mitch Smelkinson at Goodman, Genow, Schenkman, Smelkinson, and Christopher.

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