Bell boy

Principal photography began yesterday on the new action adventure film Eagle of the Ninth, starring Channing Tatum and Jamie Bell, alongside Donald Sutherland and Mark Strong. The picture is being directed by Academy Award winner Kevin Macdonald.

Jeremy Brock, who last scripted The Last King of Scotland in 2006, has penned the screenplay.

Synopsis: The Eagle of the Ninth is set in the dangerous world of second-century Britain. In 140 AD, twenty years after the unexplained disappearance of the entire Ninth Legion in the mountains of Scotland, young centurion Marcus Aquila (Tatum) arrives from Rome to solve the mystery and restore the reputation of his father, the commander of the Ninth. Accompanied only by his British slave Esca (Bell), Marcus sets out across Hadrian’s Wall into the uncharted highlands of Caledonia – to confront its savage tribes, make peace with his father’s memory, and retrieve the lost legion’s golden emblem, the Eagle of the Ninth. Sutherland portrays Marcus’ uncle Aquila, who has retired in Britain; Strong is cast as Guern, an ex-soldier who holds crucial information about the Ninth.

The film is being co-funded by Film4 and Focus Features. A release date has not yet been set.