the king's speech uk box office

The King's Speech

The story of King George VI , his unexpected ascension to the throne of the British Empire in 1936, and the speech therapist who helped the unsure monarch overcome his stammer.

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The King’s Speech reigns at the UK box office

By Andreas Wiseman 2011-01-11T10:25:00+00:00

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Momentum’s awards contender The King’s Speech eased into top spot at the UK box office over the Jan 07-09 weekend.

The Tom Hooper-directed feature opened on an impressive $5.4m (£3.5m) from 395 screens for a strong average of $13,930 (£8,942), making it one of the best-ever debut hauls for a British film.

Nominated for seven Golden Globes and recognised in 15 categories on the BAFTA longlist, the story about British monarch King George VI and his difficult ascension to the throne, is widely tipped for Oscar success, in particular for lead Colin Firth, who was nominated last year for his performance in A Single Man .

The opening was better than that of last year’s biggest local hit StreetDance 3D , which debuted on $3.9m (£2.5m), and 2009 smash Slumdog Millionaire , which took $2.8m (£1.8m) on the equivalent weekend two years ago.

The opening was Firth’s fourth-best at the UK box office, behind Bridget Jones’ Diary , Bridget Jones: The Edge Of Reason , Love Actually and Mamma Mia .

Playing on the fewest number of screens among the top nine films, Warner’s 127 Hours debuted on a decent $3.4 (£2.2m) from 310 screens at an average of $10,902 (£6,995). The take is a boost for producers Pathe after the film’s somewhat lacklustre US performance to date.

Somewhat surprisingly, the opening is director Danny Boyle’s biggest since big budget hit The Beach made $3.7m (£2.4m) in 2000.

Paramount’s third-placed comedy Little Fockers took $2.8m (£1.8m) from 483 screens for a cumulative total of $23.8m (£15.3m) while Fox’s fourth-placed Gulliver’s Travels posted the top ten’s most significant drop off at -78% in its second week, for a weekend total of $2.5m (£1.6m) from a week-high 495 screens. Rob Letterman’s adventure-comedy has now taken $17m (£10.9m).

Lionsgate’s thriller The Next Three Days opened in fifth position, taking $1.6m (£1m) from 425 screens, while Paramount’s tenth-placed The Season Of The Witch took $872,458 (£559,769) from 306 screens.

Universal’s comedy It’s Kind Of A Funny Story opened in 15th and UTV’s No One Killed Jessica a place below that.

This week sees a saturation release for Sony’s action-comedy The Green Hornet and a wide release for Fox’s drama Conviction .

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'King's Speech' tops UK box office

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Colin Firth film The King's Speech has notched up another victory by topping the UK box office.

The movie, which stars the 50-year-old actor as stammering King George VI, took £3.5 million during its opening weekend.

Firth has been tipped for an Oscar nomination for his performance in the film, which also stars Helena Bonham Carter and Geoffrey Rush.

Xavier Marchand, president of Momentum Pictures, which developed and co-financed the film, said: "The response from UK audiences to The King's Speech has been incredible.

"This is British film-making at its finest and that has not gone unrecognised by British cinemagoers."

The movie opened in the UK on Friday after originally being shown at the London Film Festival in October last year.

Firth received his latest gong, the Desert Palm Actor Achievement Award, for his performance in the film from Dame Helen Mirren in the US at the weekend.

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King's Speech tops UK box office

• Published 11 January 2011

Oscar-tipped movie The King's Speech has topped the box office in the UK and Ireland, taking £3.5m in its first three days of release.

The film, starring Colin Firth, leads the nominations for this month's Golden Globe Awards, with seven nods in key categories, including best film drama.

Another new entry, Danny Boyle's 127 Hours, took second spot, with £2.2m.

Robert De Niro and Ben Stiller's Little Fockers dropped a place to number three after its third weekend of release.

Last week's number one, Gulliver's Travels, starring Jack Black, slipped back to number four.

Thriller The Next Three Days, directed by Paul Haggis and starring Russell Crowe and Elizabeth Banks, debuted at number five, making £1m.

Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway movie, Love and Other Drugs, slipped three places to six, while Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 held on to its spot at number seven.

Disney's Tron Legacy fell two places to number eight, while The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, slipped to nine from last week's number five.

Fantasy film Season of the Witch, starring Nicolas Cage, debuted at 10.

More on this story

Firth picks up award from Mirren

• Published 10 January 2011

Colin Firth: I get tongue-tied too

• Published 6 January 2011

King's Speech director on actors

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The King's Speech

2010, History/Drama, 1h 58m

What to know

Critics Consensus

Colin Firth gives a masterful performance in The King's Speech , a predictable but stylishly produced and rousing period drama. Read critic reviews

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The king's speech   photos.

England's Prince Albert (Colin Firth) must ascend the throne as King George VI, but he has a speech impediment. Knowing that the country needs her husband to be able to communicate effectively, Elizabeth (Helena Bonham Carter) hires Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush), an Australian actor and speech therapist, to help him overcome his stammer. An extraordinary friendship develops between the two men, as Logue uses unconventional means to teach the monarch how to speak with confidence.

Rating: R (Some Language)

Genre: History, Drama

Original Language: English

Director: Tom Hooper

Producer: Iain Canning , Emile Sherman , Gareth Unwin

Writer: David Seidler

Release Date (Theaters): Jan 28, 2011  wide

Release Date (Streaming): Apr 1, 2017

Box Office (Gross USA): $138.8M

Runtime: 1h 58m

Distributor: Weinstein Co.

Production Co: See-Saw Films, Bedlam Pictures

Cast & Crew

Colin Firth

King George VI

Geoffrey Rush

Lionel Logue

Helena Bonham Carter

Queen Elizabeth

King Edward VIII

Timothy Spall

Winston Churchill

Derek Jacobi

Archbishop Cosmo Lang

Jennifer Ehle

Myrtle Logue

Anthony Andrews

Stanley Baldwin

Claire Bloom

Wallis Simpson

Michael Gambon

King George V

David Seidler

Screenwriter

Executive Producer

Mark Foligno

Harvey Weinstein

Bob Weinstein

Iain Canning

Emile Sherman

Gareth Unwin

Danny Cohen

Cinematographer

Tariq Anwar

Film Editing

Eve Stewart

Production Design

Alexandre Desplat

Original Music

Leon McCarthy

Art Director

Set Decoration

Jenny Beavan

Costume Design

News & Interviews for The King's Speech

RT on DVD & Blu-Ray: The King’s Speech and Rabbit Hole

Best of the Best Pictures!

RT’s Oscar Picks

Critic Reviews for The King's Speech

Audience reviews for the king's speech.

A true masterwork of modern cinema laced with exceptional acting and a story which makes for a nearly perfect period piece. One of the best films of the 21st Century by far.

The Duke Of York hires an unconventional speech therapist when faced with Royal duties in the burgeoning media age to help him with a stammer that prevents his public speaking. The premise behind The King's Speech is a rather dry one and the trailers themselves make it seem to be a cross between The Madness Of King George and Pygmalion, but thanks to some winning performances and an interesting script portraying a behind the scenes window onto recent history it transcends the traditional comedy of manners formula that nearly all British films seem obliged to follow. Colin Firth's portrayal of a man thrust into the public eye by events beyond his control is sublime and it's fascinating to see a snapshot of the man behind a public face completely controlled by propriety and social convention. There's a real warmth in his unlikely friendship with a brewer's son from Australia and the gentle humour and subtle direction makes a very refreshing change from the ADHD firework displays that seem to make up the vast majority of modern cinema. Maybe not the masterpiece its multi-award winning reputation suggests, but a quality cast and sensitive storytelling make for a fine lightly comic and insightful historical character study.

Please spell me out the "clichéd" and "formulaic" elements in The King's Speech, because even if it is a doubtful Academy Awards conqueror, Tom Hooper built a proper historical account about the struggle of a man to become a symbol of national resistance in imminent war times that were about to shape the world. It has been accused of being "predictable" as well. Maybe that's because the story was based on true events? The art of cinema retelling true stories resides in the ability to properly, yet respectfully carry on the task of dramatization, one of the main successes of <i>The King's Speech</i>. I applaud the performances and the execution. Dialogue handling was impeccable, and the cinematography was worthy of a disciple of Carol Reed, capturing the size of the scenarios, the tension of the situations and the psychological difficulties faced by King George VI. I wonder, therefore, what would the opinion of the audiences be if this had been a film directed by Carol Reed in the 40s. Perhaps they would have been quicker to applaud. Do not let the debated Academy Awards be distractions to you. 78/100

It's the sign of a talented director that a bunch of scenes of people talking (or stammering) in rooms can look cinematic.

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The King's Speech Tops UK Box Office

by Helen Earnshaw | 11 January 2011

The King's Speech

The King’s Speech has held off the challenge from Danny Boyle’s 127 Hours to top the UK box office.

The movie, which is directed by Tom Hooper, sees Colin Firth return to the big screen as King George VI in a movie that is being tipped for Oscar glory later this year.

The film follows King George VI of Britain, his impromptu ascension to the throne and the speech therapist who helped the unsure monarch become worthy of it.

Firth has been tipped as the favourite to walk away with the Best actor Oscar for his central performance and the movie took £3.5 million over the weekend to snatch the number one spot.

Danny Boyle made his return this week, his first movie since the success of Slumdog Millionaire, will 127 Hours, which tells the remarkable story of survival of Aron Ralston.

The movie took £2.1 million but had to settle for second place. Little Fockers fell a single place to number three while Gulliver’s Travels was down three.

The top five was rounded off by a third and final new entry in the form of The Next Three Days, which sees Russell Crowe team up with filmmaker Paul Haggis.

Love and Other Drugs, which sees Anne Hathaway reunite with Jake Gyllenhaal, was down three at six while Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1 remained at number seven.

Tron: Legacy was down two but this week’s biggest faller was The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader which dropped four places from five to nine.

Season of the Witch, which sees Nicolas Cage return to the big screen, was the fourth and final new entry inside the top ten this week at number ten.

1. (-) The King's Speech - £3,523,102

2. (-) 127 Hours - £2,168,570

3. (2) Little Fockers - £1,798,677

4. (1) Gulliver's Travels - £1,554,266

5. (-) The Next Three Days - £1,046,333

6. (3) Love & Other Drugs - £807,912

7. (7) Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 1 - £712,728

8. (6) Tron: Legacy - £639,903

9. (5) The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader - £621,393

10. (-) Season Of The Witch - £559,769

by Helen Earnshaw for www.femalefirst.co.uk find me on and follow me on

'King's Speech' beats '127 Hours' at UK BO

The King's Speech has opened in first place at the UK box office on its debut weekend on release.

The royal drama - starring Colin Firth, Helena Bonham Carter and Geoffrey Rush - pulls in £3.5 million to edge out the week's other big new movie, Danny Boyle and James Franco's 127 Hours .

Little Fockers and Gulliver's Travels fill third and fourth place respectively, while Russell Crowe's The Next Three Days rounds out the top five.

Love & Other Drugs falls to number six ahead of Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 1 . The first instalment in the two-part Potter finale has now made more than £50 million at the UK box office.

Tron: Legacy and The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader occupy the eighth and ninth slots in the chart. Nicolas Cage's latest offering Season Of The Witch makes a disappointing debut at number ten with just over £500,000 in ticket sales.

The UK box office top ten in full:

Movies Editor 

Simon has worked as a journalist for more than a decade, writing on staff and freelance for Hearst, Dennis, Future and Autovia titles before joining Cision in 2022.

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Home > Films > K > The King's Speech

Friday April 12th 2024

The King's Speech | 2011

• Locations |
• Hertfordshire ;
• Berkshire ;
• Cambridgeshire ;
• Buckinghamshire ;
• West Yorkshire ;
• Colin Firth,
• Geoffrey Rush,
• Helena Bonham Carter,
• Guy Pearce,
• Michael Gambon,
• Derek Jacobi,
• Timothy Spall,
• Jennifer Ehle,
• Claire Bloom,
• Adrian Scarborough,

Heaps of well-deserved praise (not to mention awards and those Oscar nominations) for the performances and the witty script ensured serious box office success for Tom Hooper ’s third feature, despite the adventurous visual style, with its oddly disjointed close-ups mirroring the Duke of York’s ( Colin Firth ) struggle to communicate.

The film kicks of with the then-Duke’s painful attempt to deliver the closing speech at the 1925 ‘Empire Exhibition’. This was held at the famous old Wembley Stadium – home of the FA Cup Final – which was bulldozed in 2003 to make way for the spanking new venue.

With the real Wembley out of the picture, the scene was filmed at two separate locations – both in West Yorkshire – a football stadium and a Rugby League ground. One venue was Elland Road Football Stadium (the home of Leeds United FC ) in Leeds , where director Hooper had shot much of his previous film, The Damned United . The other was Odsal Stadium , Rooley Avenue, Queensbury (home of the Bradford Bulls ), south of Bradford .

The BBC radio control room, with its acres of dials, from where the speech is broadcast around the world, is the old control centre of the disused Battersea Power Station, Wandsworth, London SW8 , dominating the skyline on the south bank of the Thames opposite Pimlico. The monumental Thirties building, currently an empty shell, has proved a useful backdrop of ruined industrial grandeur in films such as Christopher Nolan ’s The Dark Knight and Terry Gilliam ’s The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus .

In London , the Duke and Duchess ( Helena Bonham Carter ) lived at ‘145 Piccadilly’, near Hyde Park Corner. The actual house was destroyed in a bombing raid during WWII, but the house seen in the film is 33 Portland Place , W1 , a remarkable Robert Adam house, dating from 1775, which has had a colourful history – including once being home to the embassy of the Government of Sierra Leone.

Anxious to find a cure for her husband’s debilitating stammer, the Duchess, under the discreet alias of ‘Mrs Johnson’, visits speech therapist Lionel Logue ( Geoffrey Rush ) at his practice on London ’s exclusive Harley Street . The real street, famed as the home of prestigious private medical practices, has seen a few modern developments since the 1920s but, conveniently,  an old-fashioned pea-soup fog solves this visual problem. You can glimpse the street again in the original 1969 film of The Italian Job .

The interior of Logue’s practice, though, the extraordinary consulting room with striking windows and wonderfully distressed wallpaper is, amazingly, part of the same elegant Georgian house at 33 Portland Place that provided the royal couple’s ‘Piccadilly’ home (the eagle-eyed might recognise the same room from the 2006 Amy Winehouse video for Rehab ). If you’re planning that really special bash, the house is currently used as one of London ’s most idiosyncratic party venues.

Logue’s modest home, supposedly in Kensington, is 89-96 Iliffe Street at Campton Street, SE17 , just south of Elephant and Castle. An awful lot of period dressing-down gives the neighbourhood to a suitably grimy pre-war look – but a subsequent coat of paint has perked up the street no end.

Logue auditions none too successfully for a production of Richard III at the Bloomsbury Ballroom in Victoria House, 37-63 Bloomsbury Square, WC1 , on the northeast side of the square. The sleekly art deco venue hosts music nights and is available to hire (though at the time of writing, it appears to be closed).

After the cathartic session during which the future king unleashes a torrent of language rarely used by royals in public, Bertie and his therapist take a relaxing walk in the park. The formal garden, in which the Lionel eventually oversteps the boundaries of protocol, is the Avenue Garden in the southeast corner of Regent’s Park, NW1 .

It’s back up to the north of England , this time to the other side of the Pennines in Lancashire , where the Duke’s rallying speech at manufacturing centre proves another hurdle. The mill is the Queen Street Mill Textile Museum , Harle Syke , on the outskirts of Burnley . Closed as a mill in 1982, it remains the last surviving, operational steam powered weaving mill in the world.

The party, held by Bertie’s older brother David ( Guy Pearce ) and Wallis Simpson ( Eve Best ) at the Scottish estate of ‘Balmoral’, is the Ballroom of Knebworth House , on the A1 in Hertfordshire , 28 miles north of London . This strikingly Gothicised Tudor manor has previously provided gloomy mansions for, among others, the Ingrid Bergman 1956 Oscar-winner Anastasia , Ken Russell 's kitschy Lair of the White Worm (with a pre-stardom Hugh Grant ), Gene Wilder 's Haunted Honeymoon ; the deliriously daft schlocker Horror Hospital ; and – most famously – the exterior of ‘Wayne Manor’ in Tim Burton ’s 1989 Batman .

More regal interiors are portrayed by Hatfield House , also in Hertfordshire ; Halton House in Buckinghamshire (which also appeared as 'Buckingham Palace' in The Queen , with Helen Mirren as Her Maj) and 6 Fitzroy Square, W1, in central London .

6 Fitzroy Square is the headquarters of national charity the Georgian Group , founded in 1937 to protect and preserve Georgian buildings and monuments in the UK. The Georgian period (broadly 1700-1837) produced some of the country’s most beautiful buildings, a fact not overlooked by film companies. 6 Fitzroy Square itself been used as a location for several film and TV productions, including Mike Leigh 's Vera Drake , and Mira Nair ’s Vanity Fair .

Though Knebworth provided the unmistakable silhouette of ‘Wayne Manor’ in Tim Burton ’s 1989 Batman , the interiors are Hatfield House , Hatfield , also in Hertfordshire . The house has been the castle of Lord Greystoke in Greystoke, the Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes , the palace at ‘Greenwich’ in Oscar-winner Shakespeare In Love ; the ‘great house’ in Virginia Woolf 's gender-shifting fantasia, Orlando ; the mansion of Lara Croft: Tomb Raider ; and ( Tim Burton again) home to the posh Salt family in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory among many others.

Halton House , Halton , Buckinghamshire , the one-time residence of Alfred de Rothschild , now used as the Officers' Mess for RAF Halton has featured on-screen a a casino in 1999 Bond movie The World Is Not Enough ; Alan Parker ’s Evita , with Madonna ; in Bride and Prejudice and Stephen Frears ' The Queen , as well as in numerous TV productions. It's not generally open to the public, but there are occasionally visiting days.

The intimidatingly grand ‘Accession Council’ at ‘St James’s Palace’, where the new king is intimidated by the portraits of former monarchs, is the Livery Hall of the Drapers’ Hall, Throgmorton Street, EC2 in the City of London (which supplied ‘Russian’ interiors for both 1995 Bond movie GoldenEye and the1997 Val Kilmer version of The Saint . It can accommodate dinner for 270 guests, if Portland Place is just too small for you. And, yes, those royal portraits are real.

Finding a stand-in for Westminster Abbey, the real site of the coronation – in fact, all English coronations since Edward the Conqueror in 1066 – is always a challenge. Although The Da Vinci Code famously used Lincoln Cathedral, as did another royal biopic, The Young Victoria , this time around, the coronation rehearsal was filmed in Ely Cathedral , Ely in Cambridgeshire .

The City of Ely (about an hour from London by rail) was an island until the draining of the East Anglian Fens in the 17th Century, and the cathedral was nicknamed the ‘Ship of the Fens’. It was recently seen as the Queen’s ‘Whitehall’ palace in Shekhar Kapur ’s Elizabeth: the Golden Age and as Henry VIII’s palace in The Other Boleyn Girl .

The streets of wartime London , through whi

ch Logue is driven to royal residence Buckingham Palace, are the grounds of the Old Royal Naval College , King William Walk, Greenwich, London SE10 , London SE10 ( rail: Greenwich ). The grounds of the college have been used similarly in Guy Ritchie ’s Sherlock Holmes , Thor: The Dark World , Disney's Cruella , WWII drama Charlotte Gray , splurgy horror sequel The Mummy Returns , action comedy Shanghai Knights and – as 'Paris' in Tom Hooper 's Les Misérable s. The interiors have been seen in – among many other films – The Madness of King George , Four Weddings and a Funeral and Lara Croft: Tomb Raider .

The palace itself is a mix of two locations: Englefield House , in Berkshire ; and Lancaster House in London .

Originally a Tudor mansion, Englefield House , Englefield Village just west of Reading, Berkshire , is a private home and not open to visitors, though you can visit the gardens. It's also appeared in Matthew Vaughn ’s X-Men: First Class , Woody Allen ’s Match Point, and the 2008 Noël Coward adaptation Easy Virtue (with Colin Firth , again, and Jessica Biel ).

The long walk to the final broadcast is through the lavish rooms of Lancaster House , Stable Yard, St James's, London SW1 – supposedly more opulent that Buckingham Palace itself (as Queen Victoria remarked when she popped in for a visit “I have come from my house to your palace“). It’s tucked away behind high walls at the end of Pall Mall , past royal residences St James’s Palace and Clarence House, and is now owned by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Although conferences are held here, the breathtaking Louis XIV interior is rarely open to the general public. You’ll probably have to content yourself with seeing it on screen, and you have plenty of opportunities.

Lancaster House became the Tsar’s ‘St Petersburg Winter Palace’ in Warren Beatty ’s Oscar-winning historical epic Reds . The same interior appears as itself for the Lancaster House costume ball in the Merchant - Ivory film of Henry James’ The Golden Bowl , and also becomes the grand home of Lady Bracknell ( Judi Dench ) in Oliver Parker ’s 2002 adaptation of Oscar Wilde ’s The Importance Of Being Earnest .

Its favoured role, though, is as ‘Buckingham Palace’, which is how it appears in another royal biopic, 2009’s The Young Victoria , as well as King Ralph and National Treasure: Book of Secrets .

Visit The Film Locations

Uk | london.

Flights: Heathrow Airport ; Gatwick Airport

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Travelling : Transport For London

Venue hire: 33 Portland Place , W1 ,

UK | Hertfordshire

Visit: Hertfordshire

Visit: Knebworth House , Knebworth, Hertfordshire SG1 2AX ( tel: 01438.812661 )

Visit: Hatfield House , Hatfield AL9 5NQ ( tel: 01707.287010 )

UK | Berkshire

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Visit: the Englefield Estate , Englefield Village, Reading RG7 5EN ( tel: 0118.930.2221 )

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The King’s Speech tops UK box office

The King’s Speech notched up yet another accolade over the weekend, as it topped the UK box office.

The film, which stars Colin Firth as the stammering King George VI, took £3.5 million during its opening weekend, winning out over last week’s other big release, Danny Boyle’s 127 Hours .

Xavier Marchand, president of Momentum Pictures, which developed and co-financed the film, said: “The response from UK audiences to The King’s Speech has been incredible. This is British film-making at its finest and that has not gone unrecognised by British cinemagoers.”

The movie opened in the UK on Friday after premiering at the London Film Festival to rave reviews in October last year.

The news comes after 50-year-old Firth accepted the Desert Palm Actor Achievement

• Cast & crew
• User reviews

The King's Speech

The story of King George VI, his unexpected ascension to the throne of the British Empire in 1936, and the speech therapist who helped the unsure monarch overcome his stammer. The story of King George VI, his unexpected ascension to the throne of the British Empire in 1936, and the speech therapist who helped the unsure monarch overcome his stammer. The story of King George VI, his unexpected ascension to the throne of the British Empire in 1936, and the speech therapist who helped the unsure monarch overcome his stammer.

• David Seidler
• Colin Firth
• Geoffrey Rush
• Helena Bonham Carter
• 827 User reviews
• 486 Critic reviews
• 88 Metascore
• 108 wins & 206 nominations total

• King George VI

• Lionel Logue

• Queen Elizabeth

• Archbishop Cosmo Lang

• Private Secretary

• BBC Radio Announcer

• Robert Wood

• BBC Technician

• Dr. Blandine Bentham

• Laurie Logue

• Myrtle Logue

• Valentine Logue
• Anthony Logue

• Princess Elizabeth

• Princess Margaret

• Theatre Director
• All cast & crew
• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

Best Picture Winners by Year

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Did you know

• Trivia Nine weeks before filming began, Lionel Logue's grandson, Mark Logue , discovered a large box in his attic that contained his grandfather's personal papers. The box held Lionel Logue's diary, his appointment book, notes from his speech therapy sessions with King George VI , and over 100 personal letters to Logue from the King. It also contained what is believed to be the actual copy of the speech used by George VI in his 1939 radio broadcast announcing the declaration of war with Germany. Mark Logue turned his grandfather's papers, letters, and diary over to director Tom Hooper and screenwriter David Seidler , who used them to flesh out the relationship between Logue and the King. Geoffrey Rush and Colin Firth also read through the material for insight into their characters. The exchange in this movie between Logue and King George VI following his radio speech ("You still stammered on the 'W'." / "Well, I had to throw in a few so they knew it was me.") was taken directly from Logue's diary. Firth insisted that it should be included in the movie.
• Goofs In the final speech, King George VI has one blue eye and one brown eye. Colin Firth had lost a contact lens.

King George VI : All that... work... down the drain. My own... b... brother, I couldn't say a single w-word to him in reply.

Lionel Logue : Why do you stammer so much more with David than you ever do with me?

King George VI : 'Cos you're b... bloody well paid to listen.

Lionel Logue : Bertie, I'm not a geisha girl.

King George VI : Stop trying to be so bloody clever.

Lionel Logue : What is it about David that stops you speaking?

King George VI : What is it about you that bloody well makes you want to go on about it the whole bloody time?

Lionel Logue : Vulgar, but fluent; you don't stammer when you swear.

King George VI : Oh, bugger off!

Lionel Logue : Is that the best you can do?

King George VI : [like an elocution lesson] Well... bloody bugger to you, you beastly bastard.

Lionel Logue : Oh, a public school prig could do better than that.

King George VI : Shit. Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!

Lionel Logue : Yes!

King George VI : Shit!

Lionel Logue : Defecation flows trippingly from the tongue!

King George VI : Because I'm angry!

Lionel Logue : Do you know the f-word?

King George VI : F... f... fornication?

Lionel Logue : Oh, Bertie.

King George VI : Fuck. Fuck! Fuck, fuck, fuck and fuck! Fuck, fuck and bugger! Bugger, bugger, buggerty buggerty buggerty, fuck, fuck, arse!

Lionel Logue : Yes...

King George VI : Balls, balls...

Lionel Logue : ...you see, not a hesitation!

King George VI : ...fuckity, shit, shit, fuck and willy. Willy, shit and fuck and... tits.

• Crazy credits In the end credit roll, Philip Clements is listed twice as Assistant Sound Editor.
• Connections Featured in Breakfast: Episode dated 22 October 2010 (2010)
• Soundtracks Le nozze di Figaro Overture Written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart [During the first therapy session when King's voice is being recorded]

User reviews 827

• haakondrang
• Jun 4, 2015
• Just what time frame are we talking about here?
• What causes Bertie's stammer?
• Why couldn't King Edward marry Wallis Simpson?
• December 25, 2010 (United States)
• United States
• United Kingdom
• Official Site
• Nhà Vua Nói Lắp
• Elland Road Football Stadium, Elland Road, Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, UK (as Wembley Stadium at start of film)
• The Weinstein Company
• UK Film Council
• Momentum Pictures
• See more company credits at IMDbPro
• $15,000,000 (estimated)
• $138,797,449
• Nov 28, 2010
• $484,068,861

Technical specs

• Runtime 1 hour 58 minutes
• Dolby Digital

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The King’s Speech (2010)

Latest Ranking on Cumulative Box Office Lists

Watch now on, movie details, ranking on other records and milestones, domestic cumulative box office records, weekend box office performance, daily box office performance, weekly box office performance.

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Supporting cast, production and technical credits, blu-ray sales: green feeling blu.

May 18th, 2011

DVD Sales: King's in the Green

May 17th, 2011

Blu-ray Sales: Potter Still Has Life on High Definition

May 12th, 2011

DVD Sales: New Releases Fail to Crack the Top Five

May 10th, 2011

DVD Sales: Easter Helps Older DVDs Spring Back

May 3rd, 2011

DVD and Blu-ray Releases for April 19th, 2011

April 18th, 2011

International Box Office: Blame it on Rio

April 13th, 2011

International Box Office: Just Barely Winning

April 6th, 2011

International Box Office: Another Victory for Battle

March 30th, 2011

International Box Office: Exporting Doldrums

March 23rd, 2011

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March 6th, 2011

Depp vs. Depp

March 3rd, 2011

International Box Office: Swan 's Song a Three-Part Harmony

March 2nd, 2011

Per Theater Chart: I Am Is Number One

March 1st, 2011

Awards Season: And the Oscars go to... The King's Speech for Best Picture

February 27th, 2011

Weekend Estimates: Gnomeo Top on Another Dismal Weekend

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February 26th, 2011

International Box Office: Swan and Speech Have Unlimited Success

February 23rd, 2011

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February 22nd, 2011

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February 9th, 2011

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February 8th, 2011

Room Can't Fill the Vacancy at the Box Office

February 7th, 2011

Oscar Contest: Category Highlight: Best Original Screenplay

February 6th, 2011

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February 5th, 2011

Room for Improvement

February 3rd, 2011

International Box Office: Tangled Returns to Top

Per theater chart is explosive.

February 1st, 2011

New Releases Can't Rite Sinking Box Office

January 31st, 2011

Awards Season: SAG Selects Speech as King

January 30th, 2011

Awards Season: Did DGA Crown Speech King?

Weekend estimates: the rite tops another slow weekend, hitmen vs. exorcists.

January 27th, 2011

International Box Office: Hornet Stings the Competition

January 26th, 2011

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January 25th, 2011

Better Late Than Never

Per Theater Chart: Cleaning House

Strings Provides No Boost for Box Office

January 24th, 2011

Weekend Estimates: No Strings Attached Tops with $20 Million

January 23rd, 2011

Awards Season: King of the PGAs

No competition for no strings.

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Per theater chart: barney leads the way, in this version anyhow.

January 18th, 2011

Hornet is in the Green, But Dilemma has Problems

Awards season - globes get social.

January 16th, 2011

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January 12th, 2011

Per Theater Chart: Phil Ochs has Fortunate Start

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January 9th, 2011

Awards Season: PGA Doesn't Toy With Expectations

January 4th, 2011

Awards Season: WGA Sticks to the Letter of the Law

Per theater chart: blue pulls in the green.

New Year Brings Little to Celebrate

January 3rd, 2011

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January 2nd, 2011

Per Theater Chart: New Releases are Strong

December 28th, 2010

Per Theater Chart: King Regains Crown

December 21st, 2010

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December 17th, 2010

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King of the Per Theater Chart

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Never mind the Baftas ... who will get The King's Speech riches?

I t remains to be seen how many Baftas The King's Speech will pick up on Sunday, but here are some other figures to be getting along with. The film's global box office tally stands at $177m and rising. After just five weeks on UK release, it's being hailed as the most successful independent British film ever, with experts predicting that its final domestic gross could touch £50m. Not bad for a film that was shot on a modest £8m production budget. Not bad for a picture that was passed over by both Film4 and the BBC and was eventually seeded as the result of a £1,022,000 investment from the UK Film Council .

Judged in terms of cold, hard numbers, The King's Speech is already a winner. The big question is who collects, and when. For the UKFC this issue comes with a particular poignancy. Controversially scrapped by the government last July, the UKFC now limps on until 1 April, after which its disbursement powers devolve to the British Film Institute. The King's Speech, it appears, arrived too late to save it.

"The irony of the situation has been observed," admits Tanya Seghatchian, head of the UKFC's film fund. "But what we're feeling right now is triumphant. What we have is the most successful independent British film of all time, made as a direct result of public funding. That's a great validation and a great thing to have at the end of a very difficult eight-month period. Yes, it's a bittersweet moment. But it's also an amazing legacy for the UKFC as a whole."

The success of Tom Hooper's royal drama has caught everyone by surprise. Producers Iain Canning and Emile Sherman explain that it was made during a tough time for independent film, against the backdrop of the global financial crisis. Moreover, the bar was set low, following a series of costume dramas (Jane Campion's critically acclaimed Bright Star among them) that had failed to set the cash tills ringing. "What we always looked to was the success of [Stephen Frears's 2006 film] The Queen," says Sherman. "Every distributor does a structural analysis and it was decided that The Queen was the benchmark. That's as much as we dared to dream of."

Charles Gant, film editor at Heat magazine, would agree with that. "The Queen did £9.7m in the UK and Momentum [the UK distributors of The King's Speech] were thinking of a similar ballpark," he says. "They based their marketing budget on that projection and dreamed of double figures." The actual numbers, he adds, came out of nowhere. Projections are now being revised upwards, ever upwards; pitched out towards the clear blue yonder.

Assuming The King's Speech cleans up at the Baftas , and then again at the Oscars, its theatrical lifespan may have months left to run. Conservative estimates now predict that the film will wind up with a worldwide gross of around $300m, with proportionate returns from its subsequent afterlife on TV and DVD.

That's a lot of cash to divvy up, and a huge responsibility for those in charge. "Like all independent films, The King's Speech has a very complex finance structure," Sherman explains. "And it's true that when you have a successful film, everyone suddenly becomes very interested in the money side of things. It's going to be administratively intensive, that's for sure. We'll need someone on hand, full time, to co-ordinate it all. But we're not anticipating any problems."

So how much does the UKFC (and, by definition, the UK film industry) stand to gain from the success of Hooper's drama? Inevitably opinions vary and naturally we are still talking hypotheticals.

For the sake of argument, let's take that $300m as our starting point. Now strip out the sales tax and the exhibitor's cut. Remove the distributor's fee, the marketing costs, and the talent profit share that promises banker-style bonuses for the likes of Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush. Industry insiders reckon that, even after all that, the UKFC can expect a return of between £12-15m.

"Obviously there are huge caveats," warns one insider. "The film could make $250m or it could make $400m. You're also making a huge assumption that all the money owed will be honestly paid by the film's distributors and that's not always the case, particularly in the US, where it's notoriously difficult to get the money back. But assuming everything is reasonably clean, £12m doesn't seem an unreasonable sum."

And then what? Officially speaking, the UKFC is still in operation, limping on until April Fool's Day, after which its duties will devolve to a new production structure that has yet to be fully fleshed out. All of which leaves the industry in a state of flux. The UKFC is dead but The King's Speech is cleaning up. Daddy's dead, who's got the will?

According to Tanya Seghatchian, we need not worry. "Everyone will benefit," she explains. The money that the UKFC is owed from The King's Speech will flow back to the industry, where it will be dispersed by the BFI and nurture new directors, new productions. It can be read as a vindication for the UKFC; a happy ending of sorts.

Others, however, might be tempted to take a more blackly comic approach. According to one industry insider, the administrative costs of dismantling the UKFC is estimated at around £11m. Viewed in that light, the £12m windfall generated by the success of The King's Speech could play an altogether different role. It's enough to cover the funeral, with a little left over for the wake.

• Baftas 2011
• UK Film Council
• Awards and prizes
• Colin Firth
• Film industry

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Politics latest: 'Significant progress' on Gibraltar deal; Keir Starmer responds to news of Angela Rayner police investigation

Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron has been in Brussels for talks with the EU on Gibraltar; Police confirm they have launched an investigation into whether Angela Rayner broke electoral law. Listen to the latest episode of the Electoral Dysfunction podcast as you scroll.

Friday 12 April 2024 16:47, UK

• 'Signifiant progress' towards UK-EU agreement on Gibraltar
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Angela Rayner is set to become the UK's deputy prime minister if Labour wins the next general election.

Here's what you need to know about the party's deputy leader - from her early life and career in politics to the abuse and controversy she has faced.

Born in Stockport in 1980, Ms Rayner was brought up on a council estate. She left school at 16 with no qualifications and pregnant with her first son.

She says she was told she would "never amount to anything".

"When I was young, we didn't have books because my mother couldn't read or write," Ms Rayner said in an interview with the Financial Times.

You can read more from Sky News below:

By Faye Brown , political reporter

Police are investigating allegations that Angela Rayner may have broken electoral law over information she gave about her living situation a decade ago.

It comes after Tory MP James Daly informed  Greater Manchester  Police (GMP) of claims made by neighbours that allegedly contradicted the Labour deputy leader's statement that her property - which was separate from her then husband's - was her main residence.

GMP previously said it would  not be investigating  the allegations.

But the force has now "reassessed" information about the case and launched a probe following a complaint from Mr Daly, an MP in the region and the deputy chairman of the Conservative Party.

You can read more here:

As with most political scandals, the heat in the Angela Rayner housing row is less about the (alleged) crime and more about the (alleged) cover-up.

Or, to put it another way, this is all about how honest and transparent the Labour deputy leader has been in responding to allegations about her living arrangements a decade ago.

The rebuttal from Ms Rayner right from the beginning has been (to paraphrase) "this is all a big Tory smear, the house at Vicarage Road was my main residence, nothing to see here".

Greater Manchester Police's newly-reopened investigation may hinge on whether officers believe that was indeed the case.

If they find it wasn't, it's hard to imagine a terribly harsh judicial penalty being handed down.

But there would still be a substantial political price to pay, as it would demolish the defence of the Labour deputy leader and call into question her honesty.

For a politician known for her straight-forward and unvarnished manner - who has often been on the front foot chastising Conservatives for all manner of indiscretions - a humbling like that may prove too severe to survive.

Alternatively, a clean bill of health from the police may finally bury this story for Labour by putting Ms Rayner in the clear.

But even if that later point is reached, it seems the party and its second most senior figure have - at the very least - a few more days of difficult coverage ahead.

Foreign secretary Lord Cameron has been in Brussels for talks on Gibraltar.

The terms of the territory's post-Brexit relationship with the EU remains unresolved.

A statement released by the European Commission after the discussions struck a positive note, saying "significant progress" has been made towards a UK-EU agreement.

Reported sticking points between the sides include the rules for Gibraltar's border with Spain and the EU, and Madrid seeking greater management of its airport.

Gibraltar is a British overseas territory, but this sovereignty is disputed by Spain. 

"European Commission Executive Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič, Spanish Minister for Foreign Affairs José Manuel Albares and UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron, together with the Chief Minister of Gibraltar Fabian Picardo, met in Brussels on Friday 12 April," the European Commission statement said.

"This was the first meeting in this format. Discussions took place in a constructive atmosphere, with significant progress achieved. 

"General political lines have been agreed, including on airport, goods and mobility. 

"Negotiations will continue over the coming weeks to conclude the EU-UK agreement.

"The participants agreed that this was a productive day. 

"The meeting reaffirmed their shared commitment to concluding an EU-UK agreement to secure the future prosperity of the whole region. 

"This agreement will bring confidence, legal certainty and stability to the lives and livelihoods of the people of the whole region, without prejudice to the parties' legal positions."

The Sky News live poll tracker - collated and updated by our Data and Forensics team - aggregates various surveys to indicate how voters feel about the different political parties.

As the local election campaign gets under way, Labour is still sitting comfortably on a roughly 20-point lead, averaging at 43.3% in the polls, with the Tories on 23.6%.

In third is Reform UK on 12.8%, followed by the Lib Dems on 9.4%.

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See the latest update below - and you can read more about the methodology behind the tracker  here .

Over a year ago, Rishi Sunak made five pledges for voters to judge him on.

The prime minister met his promise to halve inflation by the end of 2023.

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Sue Gray's ascension to the Labour Party - from civil service partygate investigator to Sir Keir Starmer's chief of staff - has delighted and rankled colleagues in equal measure.

Since her arrival last autumn, Ms Gray has been subject to praise from shadow cabinet members and mayors, whom she is said to have brought closer to the Labour leader.

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However, one ally Ms Gray has found herself with is Labour's deputy leader Angela Rayner, with whom she is said to have established a good relationship based on mutual respect.

As the fallout from the Westminster honeytrap scandal continues to unravel, Beth Rigby, Jess Phillips and Ruth Davidson explain why contacts are so valuable in Parliament and ask what William Wragg's resignation tells us about Rishi Sunak's leadership.

And, with Labour riding high after two major polls predicted landslide victories at the upcoming election, should Keir Starmer be worried about voter complacency?

Plus, Beth, Ruth and Jess talk about the impact of Dr Hilary Cass’ review into gender identity services for under-18s in England.

👉 Listen above then tap here to follow Electoral Dysfunction wherever you get your podcasts 👈

Email Beth, Jess, and Ruth at [email protected] , post on X to @BethRigby, or send a WhatsApp voice note on 07934 200 444.      

Warning: some strong language. 

Tory MP James Daly informed Greater Manchester Police (GMP) of claims made by neighbours that contradicted the Labour deputy leader's statement that her property, separate from her then-husband's, was her main residence.

Asked whether she should resign if she has broken the law, Sir Keir Starmer refused to say.

He told ITV: "She's given answers on the issue many, many times over, she's clearly said she'll co-operate with the police.

"I do think now is the time to let the police get on with their investigation, get on with the work they need to do, she'll co-operate with that which is exactly what you’d expect of her."

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Veterinary nurse avoids being struck off after her pet husky killed her baby

Tribunal told of night when sled racing dog inflicted fatal head and neck wounds on three-month-old Kyra King

A veterinary nurse whose Siberian husky killed her three-month-old daughter has avoided being struck off.

Kyra King died after Blizzard, a sled racing dog, attacked her in woods near the Lincolnshire home of her mother, Karen Alcock.

Ms Alcock, a veterinary nurse of 20 years who was said to have kept 11 dogs as pets, was at the woodland with her partner, Vince King, to train their huskies.

Without “trigger”, the dog attacked the baby, resulting in her death, a disciplinary hearing was told.

Ms Alcock, who lives in the hamlet of New York , last year pleaded guilty to being in charge of a dog that was dangerously out of control and was given an eight-month suspended sentence.

She said the loss of her daughter had been “indescribable”, but admitted she hoped to return to veterinary nursing.

Two years on from the attack, the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons has decided that Ms Alcock will not be struck off as her conviction does “not render her unfit to practice”.

Ms Alcock gave birth to Kyra on December 7, 2021, an infant who was a “very much wanted and loved baby”.

From the age of just five days old, Kyra was being taken out with Ms Alcock and Mr King to Ostler’s Plantation, a woodland where they exercised the huskies.

Describing the events of the night when she died, Nicole Curtis, representing the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, told the tribunal: “At about 11.30pm, the emergency services were called to attend the Ostler’s Plantation.

“[Ms Alcock’s] three-month-old daughter, Kyra, had been bitten by their Siberian husky dog Blizzard.

“Tragically, Kyra’s injuries were so severe it was not possible for the attending medics to treat her and she was pronounced dead at the scene.

“A post-mortem examination revealed that she had died from multiple injuries to her head and neck, including a severance of the carotid artery.”

‘Calm and sociable’

An examination of the dog in police kennels found it to be a “calm and sociable, gentle and sensitive” pet which was “not interested in playing with a toy, but did like human contact”.

However, the experts stated that the husky, which was owned formally by Mr King, was pregnant and undernourished.

The hearing was told the self-proclaimed animal lover, Ms Alcock, qualified as a veterinary nurse in 2003.

Alex Jamieson, representing the veterinary nurse, told the tribunal that Ms Alcock has been traumatised by the death of her daughter. “If punishment were merited, she has already been punished by the criminal proceedings,” he said.

“She was jointly responsible for an otherwise well-behaved and gentle dog when an unforeseeable tragic conjunction in circumstances led to an outcome that will always haunt her.”

‘Abusive relationship’

The tribunal was told in detail how Ms Alcock was in an allegedly abusive relationship with Mr King at the time, and it was for this reason that she was out with him in the woodland.

Mr Jamieson stated: “The dog did not belong to Ms Alcock. She did not want to be out in the woods that evening, but was induced to do so by a violent, coercive and controlling partner.”

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