Douglas Henshall has a small part in the film The Eagle of the Ninth, which was filmed in Hungary between August 24th and September 2009. The film, directed by Kevin McDonald is an adaptation of Rosemary Sutcliff's classic children's novel, which tells the story of a wounded Roman soldier and his loyal Celtic slave, as they attempt to solve the mystery of the Ninth Legion, who set off into the wilds of the Scottish Highlands and were never seen again.
In the Eagle of the Ninth, Douglas Henshall plays the role of the Celt (Briton), Cradoc, a warrior and a charioteer. Dougie says it was a ‘fun part’ to play.
The Eagle of the Ninth is shooting entirely on location. Following six weeks in Hungary, where filming began in August, the unit has now moved to Scotland and will remain there until production wraps next month (November 2009). The sets in are Scotland are being used to represent everything north of Hadrian’s wall, while the locations in Hungary are a stand-in for everything south of the Wall in the film.
Duncan Kenworthy, an Academy Award and Golden Globe Award nominee for Four Weddings and a Funeral, developed and is producing the film through his Toledo Productions. Caroline Hewitt is co-producer. Focus senior vice president, European production Teresa Moneo – who with Focus Features International president of sales and distribution Alison Thompson brought the project into the company – is supervising the film's production with Film4 head Tessa Ross.
The film is directed by Oscar-winner Kevin Macdonald and stars Channing Tatum, Jamie Bell, Mark Strong and Donald Sutherland. The script is by Jeremy Brock, who previously collaborated with Macdonald on the Academy Award-winning The Last King of Scotland. The film project is co-financed by Focus Films International and Film4.
According to the press release put out by Focus on August 24th 2009, the film is set in Britain in the second century and the plot is as follows:
In 140 AD, twenty years after the unexplained disappearance of the entire Ninth Legion in the mountains of Scotland, young centurion Marcus Aquila (played by Channing Tatum) arrives from Rome to solve the mystery and restore the reputation of his father, the commander of the Ninth. Accompanied only by his British slave Esca (Jamie Bell), Marcus sets out across Hadrian’s Wall into the uncharted highlands of Caledonia – to confront its savage tribes, make peace with his father’s memory, and retrieve the lost legion’s golden emblem, the Eagle of the Ninth. Donald Sutherland portrays Marcus’ uncle Aquila, who has retired in Britain; Mark Strong is cast as Guern, an ex-soldier who holds crucial information about the Ninth.
Anthony Dod Mantle, who won the Academy Award earlier this year for his cinematography of Slumdog Millionaire, is director of photography. 2009 Academy Award winner Michael O'Connor and Academy Award nominee Michael Carlin (both of The Duchess) are the film's costume and production designers, respectively. Justine Wright will edit the film, marking her fifth consecutive feature collaboration with Kevin Macdonald.
"All of us at Focus are thrilled to be once again collaborating with our colleagues at Film4 – their support for the most exciting voices in British filmmaking is unparalleled," said Focus CEO James Schamus.
Film4 head Tessa Ross added, "We're incredibly excited to be working again with the wonderful Kevin Macdonald and his brilliant collaborators on this great project – Duncan, Jeremy, and our colleagues at Focus."
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