15 February, London, UK: Following its seven wins at the BAFTA Awards on Sunday, THE KING’S SPEECH success was hailed in the House of Lords yesterday.
Baroness Benjamin congratulated the film on its wonderful UK production, while Baroness Rawlings mentioned the tremendous success of THE KING’S SPEECH. Lord Wills also noted the remarkable success of the film not only at the BAFTA Awards but at awards ceremonies around the world.
THE KING’S SPEECH, which has taken over £34million at the UK box office to date, is now the biggest independent UK film release of all time in the UK.
Momentum Pictures released THE KING’S SPEECH in the UK and Ireland on January 7. The film took £3.3million on its opening weekend and spent four weeks as the UK’s number one film. It has now been seen by over six million people in the UK and its box office has averaged nearly £1million a day since opening.
THE KING’S SPEECH won both Best Film and Best British Film at the BAFTA Awards on Sunday evening, the first time this has happened since A Man for All Seasons in 1968*
Its seven BAFTA wins are the second highest for any film, alongside Slumdog Millionaire. In addition Colin Firth’s Best Actor award is the first time an actor has won this category two years running since Rod Steiger in 1968 & 1969.
Based on the true story of Queen Elizabeth II's father THE KING’S SPEECH is the fascinating, moving and often humorous story of the personal relationship that developed between England’s reluctant King George VI, plagued by a nervous stammer, and his irreverent Australian speech therapist Lionel Logue.