Pathe Distribution UK will bring to Blu-ray Roger Michell’s “The Duke”, starring Jim Broadbent, Helen Mirren, Fionn Whitehead, Aimee Kelly, and Craig Conway. The release will be available for purchase on June 13. In 1961, Kempton Bunton, a 60-year-old taxi driver, stole Goya’s portrait of the Duke of Wellington from the National Gallery in London. It was the first (and remains the only) theft in the Gallery’s history. Kempton sent ransom notes saying that he would return the painting on condition that the government invested more in care for the elderly – he had long campaigned for pensioners to receive free television. What happened next became the stuff of legend. Only 50 years later did the full story emerge – Kempton had spun a web of lies. The only truth was that he was a good man, determined to change the world and save his marriage – how and why he used the Duke to achieve that is a wonderfully uplifting tale.

Special Features and Technical Specs:
Q&A session with Jim Broadbent, Helen Mirren and Producer Nicky Bentham
The Making of The Duke – of Featurette
Nothing But The Truth – Featurette
Original trailer
Optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature

This week, Helen was busy promoting the (limited) theatrical release of “The Duke”, which will be shown in New York and Los Angeles starting April 22. In New York, there was a screening hosted by Sony Pictures Classics & The Cinema Society at Tribeca Screening Room on Tuesday as well as a screening and Q&A at the MoMa hosted by the Lincoln Center. Pictures from both appearances have been added to the photo gallery.

On Tuesday, Helen Mirren was a guest on “The Today Show” to promote the limited theatrical release of “The Duke” in New York and Los Angeles on April 22.

Dame Helen Mirren joins Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager to talk about her new movie “The Duke,” where she plays the wife of a working class man accused of stealing Britain’s most famous painting. The Oscar winner reflects on her legendary career, sharing how she deals with acting anxieties. “I always have had profound insecurities, I think it’s one of the reasons I became an actor,” she says.

After a long wait of over two years, “The Duke” finally releases UK theaters today. The true story, about a 60-year old taxi driver who stole Goya’s portrait of the Duke of Wellington from the National Gallery in 1960’s London, was filmed in 2019, premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 2020 and was then postponed time and again due to the COVID pandemic. Unfortunately, the film’s director Roger Michell, who directed Notting Hill and My Cousin Rachel, among others, passed away last year and couldn’t see the release of “The Duke”, which now marks to be his last film. For the film’s release, additional interview clips and pictures have been added to the archive.

Even more magazine scans and cover stories from this week have been added to the photo gallery, including lenghty interviews in The Hollywood Reporter, Variety and People Magazine and a cover story from the British Yours. All articles and interviews cover today’s theatrical release of “The Duke” in the United Kingdom and/or Helen Mirren’s Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award, which she will receive this Sunday. For a complete list, check the previews below.