Dame Helen Mirren is confident viewers will love her new movie about a disabled Geordie pensioner who stole a valuable portrait from London's National Gallery.
The Oscar winner stars alongside Jim Broadbent in The Duke, which tells the story of Kempton Bunton, a retired driver from Benwell who allegedly stole Francisco Goya's portrait of the Duke of Wellington in 1961.
Bunton told the Government he would return the painting if it invested in more care for the elderly.
Dame Helen is tipping The Duke to become a British classic.
Read more: The Duke, a film set in 60s Newcastle, hits cinemas this month
“I hope it will become, not a cult film, but it will become a favourite in the canon of great British films,” she told the PA news agency.
“It was made by a great British director, it has a great British actor in it, Jim (Broadbent) and it’s a wonderful British story.
“It certainly couldn’t be made in America, or France, or Germany, or Italy; it’s a quintessentially British story.”
She added: “I know people are going to love it, everyone who has seen it loves it.”
The Duke was directed by the late Roger Michell, famous for Notting Hill and Venus, who died in September 2021, aged 65.
Broadbent added that the production experience had been “the best of my life” and paid tribute to Michell as “the most wonderful director.”
“The experience of making the film was absolutely delightful, the best filming experience I’ve had, I think,” he told PA.
“Roger Michell… was the most wonderful director, he was absolutely stress free the whole shoot… no trouble, no difficulty or anxieties.
“It was a treat and it felt great. One of Roger’s many talents was getting a great cast together.”
Co-star Anna Maxwell added of Michell: “He was such a brilliant and kind director and so phenomenally able, he always had the best people and they were incredibly loyal to him and that means the whole crew.”
The Duke will be released in UK cinemas from February 25.
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