A debut image has been released from Firebrand, where Academy award-winner Alicia Vikander (The Danish Girl, Ex Machina) plays Katherine Parr, the last of Henry VIII’s six wives. Jude Law (Fantastic Beasts, The Nest) plays Henry VIII alongside a cast of Erin Doherty (The Crown, Chloe) as Anne Askew, Simon Russell Beale (Operation Mincemeat, Benediction) as Bishop Stephen Gardiner and Sam Riley (Rebecca, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil) and Eddie Marsan (The Gentlemen, Vice) as Thomas and Edward Seymour, respectively. Further cast includes Ruby Bentall (Poldark), Bryony Hannah (Call The Midwife) and Maia Jemmett. Olivier award-winning Patsy Ferran will play Princess Mary and Junia Rees will make her acting debut as Princess Elizabeth.
As well as the image, which you can see above, we also have a synopsis.
In blood-soaked Tudor England, Katherine Parr, the sixth and last wife of King Henry VIII, is named Regent while tyrant Henry is fighting overseas. Katherine has done everything she can to push for a new future based on her radical Protestant beliefs. When an increasingly ailing and paranoid King returns, he turns his fury on the radicals, charging Katherine’s childhood friend with treason and burns her at the stake. Horrified and grieving, but forced to deny it, Katherine finds herself fighting for her own survival. Conspiracy reverberates through the palace. Everyone holds their breath – for the queen to slip up, for Henry to take her head like wives before. With the hope for a future free of tyranny at risk, will Katherine submit to the inevitable for the sake of King and country?
The film is the English-language debut of Karim Aïnouz (Invisible Life, Mariner of the Mountains) and is produced by Gabrielle Tana (The Dig) of Brouhaha Entertainment and written by Henrietta and Jessica Ashworth (Killing Eve).
The film will premiere in competition at this year’s Cannes Film Festival which kicks off next month.
