MacDonald, who directed The Last King of Scotland and The State of Things, started shooting The Eagle of the Ninth, in Budapest on August 24. The film's Hungarian production partner is Pioneer Pictures.
MacDonald will also shoot in Scotland.
The Eagle of the Ninth is based on a historical adventure novel set in Roman-era Britain after the construction of Hadrian's Wall. In the film, a young Roman centurion, Marcus Aquila, searches for the truth about the disappearance of his father's legion - the Ninth - in the north of Britain twenty years earlier. He travels with a British slave, Esca, beyond Hadrian's Wall into Caledonia, where he must confront the local tribes to recover the legion's standard and restore his father's reputation.
Channing Tatum (Fighting, G.I. Joe: The Rise of the Cobra), Jamie Bell (Hallam Foe, Defiance), Donald Sutherland and Mark Strong (Body of Lies, RocknRolla) are in the lead roles. The screenplay is by BAFTA-award winner Jeremy Brock. The cinematographer is Anthony Dod Mantle, who won the Oscar for Best Achievement in Cinematography for his work in Slumdog Millionaire.
MacDonald is the grandson of Emeric Pressburger, the Oscar-winning screenwriter, film director, and producer who was born in Miskolc, Hungary. MacDonald will attend the 6th CineFest - Young Filmmakers International Festival to take place in the city where his grandfather was born between September 11 and 30. He will hold a workshop on September 13.
Source: Est.hu
