Ralph Fiennes to Star in Movie "The Choral"

Director Nicholas Hytner and writer Alan Bennett are collaborating again on the movie "The Choral", starring Ralph Fiennes, Jim Broadbent, and Simon Russell Beale. Production begins in May in Yorkshire.

Unlike their previous collaborations that were based on Tony-winning playwright Bennett’s stage plays, this is an original screenplay. 

Set in Ramsden, Yorkshire in 1916, the plot centers on the chorus master and most of the men of the ambitious local Choral Society, who have volunteered for the front. Under the direction of the demanding, driven Dr. Guthrie (Fiennes), the Choral recruits a crop of teenage boys and girls. 

Together, they discover the joys of singing and the urgency of desire as the new boys come to terms with their imminent conscription into the army. 

The pic explores the humor and humanity at the heart of a community facing an uncertain future.

“A new screenplay from Alan Bennett is a major event and The Choral is as affecting and funny as anything he’s written in his long career,” Hytner said. “I am thrilled to be continuing my collaboration with him, and with the three remarkable leading actors.”

Hytner will produce alongside Kevin Loader and Damian Jones. Caroline Charles, Eva Yates, Paul Grindey, and Charles Moore are executive producers. 

The pic was financed by Sony Pictures Classics, which previously distributed the Maggie Smith-starring Lady in the Van, along with BBC Film and Screen Yorkshire.

It marks the fourth collaboration between Bennett and Hytner. The two previously teamed up on “The Lady in the Van,” “The History Boys” and “The Madness of King George.”

Sony will release the movie theatrically worldwide, including in the UK.