Actor Anthony Hopkins gets a Handle on a complete piece of work. Anthony Hopkins who played Pope Benedict XVI in the Oscars nominee The Two Popes (2019), will play famous Baroque composer George Frideric Handel in a new biopic. The story will follow Handel during the summer of 1741 when he wrote the choral work Messiah.
The oratorio was premiered in Dublin on April 13, 1742, and includes the famous ‘Hallelujah’ chorus, which is today the most performed worldwide. Hopkins is also a talented musician and has a close relationship with classical music.
The actor worked previously with Embankment Films on the production of The Father, when he won his second Oscar.
Named The King of Covent Garden, the film will portray the composer on the 24 days he took to write the famous piece. “Hopkins and Handel are maestros of their art and together they create a joyous and uplifting cinematic event,” said the founder of Embankment Films, Tim Haslam.
Film director Andrew Levitas said: “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 King of Covent Garden is expected to be released in autumn 2025. Embankment Films considers the film “a powerfully majestic celebration of genius breaking all the rules to create an anthem inspiring the popular imagination of global audiences”.