victoria-abdulThomas Newman has been tapped to score the upcoming period drama Victoria and Abdul. The film is directed by Stephen Frears (PhilomenaThe QueenDangerous Liaisons) and stars Judi Dench, Ali Fazal, Eddie Izzard, Adeel Akthar and Michael Gambon. The movie centers on Queen Victoria’s unlikely friendship with Abdul Karim, a young clerk, who travels from India to participate in the Queen’s Golden Jubilee. Lee Hall (Billy Elliot) wrote the screenplay based on the book by Shrabani Basu. Tim Bevan & Eric Fellner (Atonment, Love Actually, Elizabeth) are producing the Working Title and BBC Films production with Beeban Kidron (Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason) and Tracey Seaward (The Queen, Dirty Pretty Things). Victoria and Abdul will be released on September 22, 2017 by Focus Features. Visit the official movie website for more information.

  1. David says:

    I wonder if Alexandre Desplat was simply too busy to take on this assignment – he seemingly had a good relationship going with Stephen Frears.

    • Michael says:

      Desplat was supposed to score Frears’s Lance Armstrong biopic, but Alex Heffes ended up doing it. But he did Florence Foster Jenkins afterwards so I think he was busy to do this one.