Granada Takes on New Ecosse TV Movie

LONDON, June 21: Granada International has taken on the
international distribution rights to the new TV movie My Boy Jack, commissioned by ITV1 and starring Daniel Radcliffe
and Kim Cattrall.

The 95-minute feature from Ecosse Films is based on a true
story and stars Radcliffe as Jack Kipling, son of acclaimed British author
Rudyard Kipling, who was determined to become a soldier in the First World War.
Suffering from severe myopia, 17-year-old Jack was refused entry to the army on
a number of occasions until his famous father intervened and obtained a
commission for him in the Irish Guards.
Shortly after going into battle, he was listed as “missing believed
wounded”, and Kipling and his American wife Carrie began a frantic search to
find their son. Sex and the City’s Kim
Cattrall will play Carrie. David Haig (Four Weddings and a Funeral,
The Thin Blue Line) plays Rudyard Kipling,
and has also written the screenplay for My Boy Jack, based on his critically acclaimed stage play of the
same name.

“This is the moving story of the futility of war and its
terrible consequences,” said Douglas Rae, the managing director and producer at
Ecosse Films. “It is both an intense family drama and also an epic story of war
which, although set in the First World War, holds a strong contemporary
resonance with the current situations in Iraq and Afghanistan. We are thrilled
to have Daniel Radcliffe starring and believe that his presence in the lead
role will bring the horrors of the First World War to a new, younger audience.”

Granada International’s managing director, Nadine Nohr,
added, “We are delighted to have the worldwide distribution rights to this
excellent film and to be working with Ecosse, one of the U.K.’s very best production
teams. We are sure the TV film, which we will be launched at MIPCOM in October,
will be of huge interest to worldwide broadcasters, particularly with
internationally acclaimed actors such as Kim and Daniel in starring roles.”

My Boy Jack, which is
about to start production, is directed by Brian Kirk (Brotherhood,
The Tudors, The Riches, Middletown),
produced by Michael Casey and Douglas Rae and executive produced by James Flynn
and Robert Bernstein.