About the Production

14th October 1066 is probably the most famous date in English history - the day of the Battle of Hastings when William, Duke of Normandy, believing he had a right of succession conquered England to seize the throne, and King Harold II was killed by an arrow that struck him in the eye – or so it is said.

But strip away the Norman propaganda written by the victors and the truth is somewhat different. William "The Bastard", the illegitimate and only son of Duke Robert of Normandy by a humble tanner’s daughter, was a usurping despot who had no entitlement to the English throne. Harold was the rightful King - the first to be crowned in London's newly built Westminster Abbey and the last King to die defending England from foreign invasion. Within twenty years of the Conquest, England was under a yoke of tyranny, most of the Saxon nobility were dead and the North had been razed to the ground leaving thousands homeless and starving.

The ten-month reign of King Harold II was systematically discredited to justify William’s invasion and politically motivated ambitions. His tenuous claim to the throne was that King Edward - later canonised and named Edward the Confessor - had personally appointed him as his heir. Edward was the eldest son of the English King Æthelred "The Unready" and Queen Emma, the daughter of Duke Richard I of Normandy, Duke William’s grandfather.

A conscious decision has been made to use CGI (Computer Generated Images) sparingly. Most ‘epic’ movies in recent years have employed CGI extensively for their battle scenes. Audiences today have a sophisticated understanding of the processes behind CGI. In the case of fantasy or science fiction productions like ‘Lord of The Rings’ for example, the audience willingly accepts the necessity for CGI and suspends disbelief. Hastings 1066 was a reality and we plan to use thousands of extras recruited from historical societies and re-enactment groups to depict the entire battle as accurately as possible.

These societies and groups bring with them a wealth of knowledge and enthusiasm. Their practical experience of historically accurate social behaviour, customs, language and the military strategy of an 11th Century battlefield must be considered an asset. It is our belief that this approach will create a most powerful and dramatic climax to the project.

We will endeavour to cast US ‘A’ list talent in some of the lead roles particularly within the Norman camp as it can be difficult to gain financial success without ticket sales in the US market. There are a number of US talent who have been approached who will be exceptional in these roles.

Funding for a production of this scale is difficult to find, whilst the UK has a plethora of talent in front and behind the camera who are often found at the forefront of Box Office hits and Oscar nominated productions, funding for anything other than a low budget movie is almost impossible to secure from the few Film financing entities operating in the UK.

There is an alternative and that alternative is public finance. By creating ‘1066 The Film PLC’ we, the producers of ‘1066’, have the ability to sell shares to corporate investors and the general public alike in an effort to raise the necessary finance to complete the project without compromising the integrity or production values of the filmmakers and, of course, the events surrounding one of the most famous dates in history.