Filming has begun on location in England and Scotland on
the Working Title Films production of Mary, Queen of Scots, starring Saoirse Ronan in the title
role opposite Margot Robbie as Elizabeth I. Josie Rourke, artistic director of The Donmar
Warehouse, makes her feature directorial debut on the movie. Focus Features holds worldwide
rights and will release Mary, Queen of Scots in the US and Universal Pictures
International (UPI) will distribute the film internationally.
The producers of Mary, Queen of Scots are Working Title co-chairs Tim Bevan and Eric
Fellner, and Debra Hayward, all Academy Award nominees as producers of Best Picture Oscar
nominee Les Misérables.
Beau Willimon, an Academy Award nominee for The Ides of March and Emmy Award nominee
for “House of Cards”, has written the screenplay adaptation. Mary, Queen of Scots is based
on John Guy’s acclaimed biography My Heart is My Own: The Life of Mary Queen of Scots.
Joining the cast are Jack Lowden (Dunkirk, England is Mine), Joe Alwyn (The Sense of an
Ending, Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk), Martin Compston (Sweet Sixteen, “Line of Duty”)
and Brendan Coyle (“Downton Abbey”, Me Before You). Also featuring in the cast are David
Tennant (“Doctor Who”, “Broadchurch”) and Guy Pearce (Memento, LA Confidential, The
Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert).
Mary, Queen of Scots explores the turbulent life of the charismatic Mary Stuart. Queen of France
at 16 and widowed at 18, Mary defies pressure to remarry. Instead, she returns to her native
Scotland to reclaim her rightful throne. But Scotland and England fall under the rule of the
compelling Elizabeth 1. Each young Queen beholds her “sister” in fear and fascination. Rivals
in power and in love, and female regents in a masculine world, the two must decide how to play
the game of marriage versus independence. Determined to rule as much more than a figurehead,
Mary asserts her claim to the English throne, threatening Elizabeth’s sovereignty. Betrayal,
rebellion, and conspiracies within each court imperil both thrones – and change the course of
history
