The King's Speech tells the story of the man who became King George VI, the father of Queen Elizabeth II. After his brother abdicates the throne, George (Bertie) reluctantly becomes King. Plagued by a dreadful stammer and considered unfit to be King, Bertie engages the help of an unorthodox speech therapist named Lionel Logue. Through a set of unexpected techniques, and as a result of an unlikely friendship, Bertie is able to find his voice and boldly lead the country through war.
What is the Genre?
The King's Speech is a period drama, so it had to be authentic - combining regal opulence and scruffy, depression-era London.
Who is the Target Audience?
The original target audience was the members of the Academy - those who vote for the nominations in the Oscars. According to statistics, the average age od Oscars voters is 57 years old. As The King's Speech was not a mainstream film but instead an independent and art house film, it relied on the reviews on the film at the various film festivals that it was entered in. Due to it's excellent reviews at the events, there became a general buzz of excitement, and the film went mainstream.
The film was initially given a 15 rating by the British Board of Film Classification for its release in the United Kingdom, due to scenes where Logue encourages the King to shout profanities to relieve stress. At the London Film Festival, Hooper criticised the decision, questioning how the body could certify the film "15" for bad language but allow films such as Salt (2010) and Casino Royale (2006) to have 12A ratings despite their graphic torture scenes.
Following Hooper's criticism, the board lowered the rating to "12A", allowing children under 12 years of age to see the film if they are accompanied by an adult. Hooper levelled the same criticism at the Motion Picture Association of America, which gave the film an R rating, preventing anyone under the age of 17 from seeing the film without an adult. This rating was not appealed.
In his review, Roger Ebert criticised the R rating, calling it "utterly inexplicable", and said, "This is an excellent film for teenagers". In January 2011, executive producer and distributor Harvey Weinstein said he was considering having the film re-edited to remove some profanity, so that it would receive a lower classification and reach a larger audience.
The film was re-released in the USA on 1 April with a PG-13 rating, replacing the original R rating.
Director
Tom Hooper was the director. He has directed films including Elizabeth I, which was about royalty like the King's Speech, as well as the Damned United, which was again, based on true events.
In both the King's Speech and the Damned United, Tom Hooper filmed at Leed's United football ground, Elland road. At the start of the King's Speech, when the Prince is giving a speech in Wembley, it is actually filmed at Elland Road. It was chosen because of the resemblance it had to a 1925 version of Wembley stadium.
Budget
The UK Film Council, which is to be cut, contributed £1 million to the overall budget.
However,
The lion's share of its £10m budget came from the Aegis Film Fund, a consortium of private investors that also contributed to another Firth release, St Trinian's 2.
The film also received money from the film's UK distributor Momentum and the London-based post-production company Molinaire.
Some credit should also go to the European Commission, which contributed £480,000 towards its distribution costs via the EU Media fund.
Distributors
The film is distributed by Transmission in Australia and by Momentum Pictures in the United Kingdom.
The Weinstein Company is the distributor in North America, Germany, Benelux, Scandinavia, China, Hong Kong and Latin America.
The film was released in France on 2 February 2011, under the title Le discours d'un roi. It was distributed by Wild Bunch Distribution.
Box Office
In the UK and Ireland, the film was the highest earning film on its opening weekend, it took in £3,510,000 from 395 cinemas. The Guardian said that it was one of the biggest takes in recent memory, compared to Slumdog Millionaire (2008), which, for example, two years earlier earned £1.5 million less.
In total, it has so far made a worldwide total of over $400 million.
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