Kate Beckinsale could be Belfast-bound

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Mooted: Kate Beckinsale

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

By Maureen Coleman

Hollywood star Kate Beckinsale could be on her way to Northern Ireland this summer to shoot a new movie.

Negotiations are under way with a number of leading Hollywood stars to entice them to Belfast to film Yankee King — and according to industry insiders, Beckinsale is one of the names being mooted as a possible lead.

Yankee King is a romantic comedy by internationally acclaimed director Gerry Lively, who was the man behind Darkness Falls and Dungeons and Dragons II.

Once again the Paint Hall in the Titanic Quarter, where the Tom Hanks movie City of Ember was shot, will be transformed into a studio for the new film.

Last week local actor BJ Hogg, who plays Big Mervyn in Give My Head Peace, playwright Marie Jones and Torchwood star Matt Rippy met for the first read through of the script.

However, it is understood several big name Hollywood actors have been approached about the movie, including British actress Beckinsale, star of movies such as Pearl Harbour, Van Hesling and Shooting Fish

Speaking at the reading, Jo Gilbert, producer with The Real Holywood Production Company, said: "Belfast is attracting big budget productions in a highly competitive European market due to the wealth of skilled tradesmen and excellent filming opportunities.

"The Paint Hall is an organic, user-friendly space with a 90 ft working height, the biggest in Europe, and I know Ed Thomas, our production designer for Yankee King who currently works on Dr Who, is excited about the prospect of transforming this relatively virgin territory into something very special. "

Yankee King is set in Ireland in the early sixties and tells the story of a man 'done good' returning to his native Ireland where the plot becomes an entanglement of love and tragedy with interludes of comic relief.

The Titanic Quarter is now a sought after location for film-makers with Hanks' $50m City of Ember, starring Billy Murray, and Lord Richard Attenborough's Closing The Ring being shot in Belfast over the last two years.

Speaking as the actors arrived for the reading at Titanic House, Mike Smith, chief executive of Titanic Quarter, said: "This is potentially more great news for the Northern Ireland economy. We are delighted that the Real Holywood Production Company has chosen Titanic Quarter to shoot their latest feature film.

"It represents tangible evidence of Belfast's film industry growing an international reputation as a location that has something different to offer, " he added.

This latest production will create about 150 jobs sourced locally and is due to start filming in July with a budget of £4m. As well as filming at Titanic Quarter, the production team proposes to travel to the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum and Groomsport Harbour.