BRAVEHEART will meet Dances With Wolves in Scottish Western - one of 10 films that actor Robert Carlyle's new production company, 4Way Pictures, plans to make.
The company has secured a first look deal with BBC films, and Carlyle - as well as starring in some of them - will also direct his first feature when his busy schedule permits.
His partners are director Antonia Bird, with whom he has made four films, and former director of the Edinburgh International Film Festival and television presenter Mark Cousins.
Carlyle was unable to attend yesterday's launch of 4Way Pictures because he was recalled to the set of the new Bond film, currently shooting outside London, in which he plays the villain.
He said he had worked with the BBC for years and it felt like ''a natural home'', adding that he was delighted the corporation was interested in the full range of 4Way projects.
These will range from big quality films, of which Scottish Western, an action adventure set in eighteenth-century America, with Carlyle heading an ensemble cast, is an example. The company will also make ''cutting edge small pictures'' and television dramas.
Bird, who directed Carlyle in both Priest and Face, said 4Way Pictures was ''about new people, new ideas, and new ways of doing things''.
Carlyle said he had always wanted creative freedom and the space to do honest work, adding: ''I think 4Way Pictures being based at the BBC means we will have that freedom.''
Cousins said: ''We will bring a range of talented people together to create a stream of productions for the widest possible audience. 4Way Pictures may consist of an Irishman, a Scotsman and an Englishwoman, but let me warn you - it's no joke.''
Braveheart star Mel Gibson - in Cannes to back his film company's Felicia's Journey, starring Bob Hoskins, which is in competition for the Palm d'Oris - is setting up a British arm of his LA-based production company Icon Productions, he announced yesterday.
The centre will generate largely European-based movies from its offices in Soho, London, heart of a growing British film production industry.
Meanwhile, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? creator Steve Knight has written a film to be produced by BBC Films, it has been revealed.
Dirty Pretty Things, a Knight screenplay billed as a contemporary thriller set in London ''is an attempt to take a fresh look at the backroom world of hotels, as you have never seen them before'', according to BBC Films' David Thompson, who said: ''Steve's written several scripts and he is an extremely good writer.
''He is bringing the same popular touch to film making that he does to Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?''
Another being given a shot at big screen fame by BBC Films yesterday was The League Of Gentlemen, which is developing an untitled screenplay.
Former Perrier Award winners in Edinburgh for stand-up comedy routines, the foursome graduated to BBC Radio and then BBC2 with impersonations and sketches.
Mark Gatiss, Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith write and act in the troupe, while Jeremy Dyson sticks to writing.
For the first time, films associated with the BBC are in each of the three sections of the official Cannes Film Festival.
Michael Winterbottom's Won-derland is in competition with 19 others for the Golden Palm; Lynne Ramsey's first feature Ratcatcher is part of Un Certain Regard; and East Is East, produced in association with Channel 4, is in the director's fortnight.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article