page_title: The Eagle (2011 film)
section_title: Production
hierarchical_section_title: The Eagle (2011 film) / Production
caption_attribution_description: Loch Lomond
context_page_description: The Eagle is a 2011 epic historical drama film set in Roman Britain directed by Kevin Macdonald, and starring Channing Tatum, Jamie Bell and Donald Sutherland. Adapted by Jeremy Brock from Rosemary Sutcliff's historical adventure novel The Eagle of the Ninth, the film tells the story of a young Roman officer attempting to recover the lost Roman eagle standard of his father's legion in Scotland. The story is based on the Ninth Spanish Legion's supposed disappearance in Britain. Historically, the purported disappearance of the Ninth Legion in Northern Britain is a subject of debate and dispute.
  The film was a UK-US co-production. It was released in the United States on 11 February 2011, and in the United Kingdom on 25 March 2011. The film received mixed reviews from critics and grossed $38 million against its $25 million budget.
context_section_description: Principal photography began on 24 August 2009 in Hungary, which doubles for what was later to become England. In October, production moved to Scotland, where filming took place in Wester Ross and at Loch Lomond, among other locations. The film was made for around £15 million by producer Duncan Kenworthy's Toledo Productions for co-financiers Focus Features and Film4. Kevin Macdonald directed from a script by Jeremy Brock, who adapted the 1954 historical adventure novel of the same name by Rosemary Sutcliff. The director of photography was Anthony Dod Mantle, production design was by Michael Carlin, the costume design was by Michael O'Connor, and Justine Wright edited the film—her fifth for Macdonald. At the 62nd Cannes Film Festival in May 2009, The Eagle of the Ninth secured distribution deals "for every global market".
  Macdonald intended the film to be historically authentic, but as little is certain about the tribes that the Romans encountered—they were generally Celtic peoples, though some may have been Picts—he made concessions. For example, the tribespeople spoke Gaelic, even though the language probably did not enter widespread use in the region until the 5th century AD; Pictish is the more likely language to have been spoken at the time. "It's the best we can do," Macdonald said. "All you can do is build on a few clues and trust your own instincts. That way, no one can tell you you were wrong." Only 1% of Scots speak Gaelic, limiting the talent pool to just 60,000 people. By August 2009, several Gaelic-speaking boys had auditioned for the role of a boy of the Seal people, aged nine to twelve, but without success, so Macdonald held open auditions in Glasgow for the role. It was eventually given to nine-year-old Thomas Henry from New Barnsley, Belfast, who had been educated in Irish Gaelic.
  
  Macdonald described his view of the Seal people:
  They were a more indigenous folk than the Celts, who were from farther south ... They were probably small and dark, like the Inouit [sic], living off seals and dressed in sealskins. We are going to create a culture about which no one knows much, but which we will make as convincing as possible. We are basing it on clues gained from places like Skara Brae and the Tomb of the Eagles in Orkney, so that we will have them worshipping pagan symbols, like the seal and the eagle. The reason they have seized the emblem of the Roman eagle from the legion is because to them it [was] a sacred symbol.
  Achiltibuie, a village in northwest Scotland, was used as a filming location for the "Seal People". Filming started in Achiltibuie on 7 October 2009 and finished on 15 October 2009. The main location was Fox Point, Old Dornie. The Pictish village which was constructed at Fox Point was used on most days of the filming. Other sites included Achnahaird beach, where a horse chase was filmed, and Loch Lurgainn. Macdonald intended to use locals as extras. This was a success with many locals appearing as extras after going to castings in nearby Ullapool. Their roles included "Seal Warriors", "Seal Princesses" and "Elders".
  In a reversal of Hollywood films about the Roman Empire, Macdonald said the Romans are played by American actors and Rome's enemies by British actors, while the British actors Paul Ritter, Mark Strong and Pip Carter used American accents to play their Roman characters. The Romans are played by Americans "to achieve a little contemporary symbolism", with Bell using a neutral English accent.
  According to Channing Tatum, the actors trained 4–5 hours a day for each role.
  Although the film mostly stuck to the plot of Sutcliff's novel, there were a few modifications and condensations, e.g. it introduced a few violent scenes into what had been a novel written for younger children.
caption: Filming took place at Loch Lomond, among other locations.[3]
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