According to reports, Oscar winning writer William Monahan ("The Departed") will write/direct the period feature "Becket", for producers Patrick Milling Smith, John Hart and Brian Carmody.Monahan will adapt the 1959 French play, "Honour of God" by Jean Anouilh, based on true events, previously adapted in 1964 by Hal Wallis Productions, for the Oscar-nominated Paramount Pictures release "Becket", starring Peter O'Toole and Richard Burton.
Paramount's "Becket", directed by Peter Glenville, was set during the late 12th century, 100 years after the 1066 Norman Conquest of England, that largely removed the Anglo-Saxon ruling class, replacing it with a French-speaking monarchy, aristocracy and clerical hierarchy.
The story line monitors the transformation of 'Thomas Becket', a Saxon protege and facilitator to carousing 'King Henry', who is appointed by the King as the Archbishop of Canterbury, formenting resentment on the part of Henry's Norman noblemen.
After Henry complains, during a drunken rage, that Becket is nothing more than a 'meddlesome priest', the indignant barons proceed to Canterbury, where they put Becket and his Saxon deputy, 'Brother John', to the sword. A badly shaken Henry then undergoes a penance by whipping at the hands of Saxon monks, followed by a public proclamation that Thomas Becket is to be ordained as a 'saint'.
Monahan's "Becket" will lense in the UK in 2011.
Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek "Becket"...
Paramount's "Becket", directed by Peter Glenville, was set during the late 12th century, 100 years after the 1066 Norman Conquest of England, that largely removed the Anglo-Saxon ruling class, replacing it with a French-speaking monarchy, aristocracy and clerical hierarchy.
The story line monitors the transformation of 'Thomas Becket', a Saxon protege and facilitator to carousing 'King Henry', who is appointed by the King as the Archbishop of Canterbury, formenting resentment on the part of Henry's Norman noblemen.
After Henry complains, during a drunken rage, that Becket is nothing more than a 'meddlesome priest', the indignant barons proceed to Canterbury, where they put Becket and his Saxon deputy, 'Brother John', to the sword. A badly shaken Henry then undergoes a penance by whipping at the hands of Saxon monks, followed by a public proclamation that Thomas Becket is to be ordained as a 'saint'.Monahan's "Becket" will lense in the UK in 2011.
Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek "Becket"...
