H IS FOR HAWK begins Principal Photography and announces Lionsgate acquires rights for UK and Ireland

Principal photography starts today on the feature drama H Is For Hawk, it was announced today by Protagonist Pictures’ CCO George Hamilton. The film stars two-time Emmy and Golden Globe winner Claire Foy (“The Crown,” 2024 BAFTA nominee for All of Us Strangers, Women Talking) and BAFTA and Academy Award nominee Brendan Gleeson (The Banshees of Inisherin, In Bruges, Paddington 2)

Protagonist Pictures already secured a slew of international deals, including Lionsgate, which has picked up rights for the U.K and Ireland; Filmcoopi, which will be handling rights in Switzerland; M2 for Eastern Europe; and Front Row for the Middle East. Protagonist Pictures is continuing worldwide sales at AFM. UTA Independent Film Group is co-repping US rights.

H Is For Hawk is produced by Plan B Entertainment (12 Years a Slave, Moonlight, Women Talking) in association with Good Gate Media. Film4 (Poor Things, The Banshees of Inisherin) developed the project alongside Plan B and Peephole Productions, and will executive produce and co-finance. Additional executive producers include Saturnia, Kliff Capital Entertainment (Useful Ghost), Calculus Media, City Hill Arts (My Penguin Friend), Desmar (Unmoored), Protagonist Pictures, Peephole Productions’ (Beacon 23) Lena Headey and Tina Thor, Claire Foy and Helen Macdonald. 

Based on author Helen Macdonald’s New York Times bestseller and award-winning memoir of the same name, three-time BAFTA winner Philippa Lowthorpe (“Three Girls,” Misbehaviour, “The Crown”) directs from a script adapted by Emma Donoghue (Room, The Wonder) and Lowthorpe.

After losing her beloved father, Helen (Foy) finds herself saved by an unlikely friendship with a stubborn hawk named Mabel. In this incredible true story, Helen rediscovers the beauty of being alive.

“We are simply thrilled to have cameras rolling on this beautiful and enduring story of love, loss and healing. This is a film that everyone can genuinely relate to,” said Hamilton. “Under Philippa’s stewardship, Claire and Brendan have begun to bring these brave and vulnerable characters to life.”

Said Plan B, “Helen’s deeply moving personal story has touched countless readers over the years, including all of us involved with this movie. We cannot think of a greater creative team led by Philippa, Claire and Brendan to help bring her story to the big screen.”

“Good Gate Media are honoured to join this wonderful project and help bring it to life,” said Good Gate Media CEO, John Giwa-Amu. “The incredible, extensive, meticulous work done by Plan B, Protagonist Pictures, Film4 and Philippa Lowthorpe has been a joy to become a part of, alongside funders Creative Wales, Ffilm Cymru and Calculus Media.”

Film4 added: “It’s hugely exciting to see H is for Hawk start production in Cambridge and Wales, and we’re grateful to the amazing team at Plan B, and to Philippa and Emma for leading the charge on this poignant and arresting film. Claire and Brendan are the perfect actors to bring to life Helen Macdonald’s beloved story of loss and renewal.“

“I’m deeply moved by the care and love and extraordinary creative expertise of everyone involved in this project,” said Macdonald. “They are making something truly magical, and I am so excited to see it spread its wings, take to the air and soar.”

Protagonist Pictures AFM slate includes the riotous comedy The Players, directed by Peter Cattaneo (The Full Monty) and starring Steve Coogan and John C. Reilly;  the Scottish family drama Glenrothan, starring Alan Cumming, and Brian Cox in his feature directorial debut; from Temple Hil (Smile, Smile 2) the high concept horror-thriller, Monitor; Bharat Nalluri’s family adventure Flavia starring Martin Freeman, Jonathan Pryce, and Molly Belle Wright; the Venice, TIFF and San Sebastian selection Kill the Jockey, directed by Luis Ortega and selected as Argentina’s feature contender for the 2025 Academy Awards; Samir Oliveros’ TIFF title The Luckiest Man in America, starring Emmy and Golden Globe winner Paul Walter Hauser; the genre-bending comedy Sister Midnight, which recently screened at the London Film Festival and was nominated for Cannes’ Camera D’Or; and from directors Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson, and Galen Johnson, starring Cate Blanchett and Alicia Vikander, is the political horror-comedy Rumours, which debuted at Cannes before going on to screen at Toronto, San Sebastian, New York and London Film Festivals.

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ABOUT PROTAGONIST PICTURES:

Led by Dave Bishop alongside George Hamilton and James Pugh, Protagonist Pictures is a sales, finance, and production company with a proven track record in outstanding films and commercial successes. Based in the UK, the company handles films from around the world, always maintaining a strong focus on filmmakers with exceptional vision and storytelling skills. Protagonist Pictures has championed groundbreaking filmmakers since its inception, including Chloe Zhao, Yorgos Lanthimos, Sean Baker, Rose Glass, Taiki Waititi and Pawel Pawlikowski.

Protagonist Pictures just had three films premiering in the Fall festivals, with Brady Corbet’s The Brutalist, starring Adrien Brody and Guy Pearce, premiering in Venice to stellar reviews; Luis Ortega’s Kill the Jockey, starring Nahuel Perez Biscayart and Ursula Corbero, playing in Venice in Official Competition and TIFF, and The Luckiest Man in America, from director Samir Oliveros, and starring Paul Walter Hauser, Walton Goggins and Shamier Anderson, also debuting at TIFF to sterling reviews. The current slate also includes

The Players, directed by Peter Cattaneo (The Full Monty) and starring Steve Coogan and John C. Reilly;  the high concept horror-thriller from Temple Hil (Smile, Smile 2), Monitor;  Brian Cox’ heartwarming Scottish family drama Glenrothan where he’s starring alongside Alan Cumming; Adam Scott’s edge of your seat thriller Double Booked, starring Adam Scott, Zazie Beetz, Sterling K Brown and Alexandra Daddario, and the charming NYC-set comedy Encore, produced by Temple Hill and directed by Simon Curtis, with Glenn Close, Jeremy Irons, Henry Winkler and Don Johnson. Protagonist Pictures also handled international sales for Eli Craig’s highly anticipated horror adaptation Clown in a Cornfield, from the producers of Smile.

Other recent titles include Sundance and Berlin film festival selection The Outrun starring Saoirse Ronan and Paapa Essiedu, Thordur Palsson’s elevated horror The Damned, starring Odessa Young and Joe Cole, and premiering at the 2024 Tribeca Film Festival, both of which Protagonist also executive produced. The ensemble comedy Rumours, directed by Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson and Galen Johnson, led by Cate Blanchett and Alicia Vikander, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival., and Sister Midnight, starring Radhika Apte, Ashok Pathak and Chhaya Kadam, and directed by Karan Kandhari, which also premiered in Cannes at the Director’s Fortnight.

ABOUT PLAN B ENTERTAINMENT

Plan B’s film work includes The Tree of Life, Eat Pray Love, World War Z, 12 Years a Slave, Selma, The Big Short, Moonlight, Okja, Minari, Blonde, She Said, Women Talking, Bob Marley: One Love, Wolfs and Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice. Plan B’s television work includes a wide range of projects including the BAFTA and Peabody-winning The Underground Railroad and Outer Range for Amazon, Clea DuVall and Tegan & Sara’s High School for Amazon’s Freevee, Lego Masters for FOX, Feud in partnership with Ryan Murphy for FX, and the Three Body Problem, from David Benioff and D.B. Weiss and Alex Woo, for Netflix.

Upcoming film projects from Plan B include RaMell Ross’s The Nickel Boys and Nia DaCosta’s Hedda Gabler for MGM’s Orion Pictures, Bong Joon-Ho’s Mickey 17 for Warner Bros. Pictures, and Joseph Kosinski’s F1 for Apple Studios.

ABOUT FILM 4

Film4 Productions is Channel 4 Television’s feature film division. Film4 develops and co-finances films and is known for working with the most distinctive and innovative talent in UK and international filmmaking, both new and established. Since its inception in 1982 Film4’s films have won a collective 43 Oscars® and 97 BAFTAs.

Film4’s most recent films include Oscar®, BAFTA and Venice Golden Lion winning Poor Things (Yorgos Lanthimos); Oscar®, BAFTA and Cannes Grand Prix winning The Zone of Interest (Jonathan Glazer); Savanah Leaf’s BAFTA winning Earth Mama; Molly Manning Walker’s Un Certain Regard winning How to Have Sex; Andrew Haigh’s BIFA winning All of Us Strangers; Thea Sharrock’s Wicked Little Letters; BIFA winning The Kitchen (Daniel Kaluuya, Kibwe Tavares); Yorgos Lanthimos’ Kinds of Kindness and Rose Glass’ Love Lies Bleeding.

Upcoming films include Karan Kandhari’s Sister Midnight; Thea Gajic’s Surviving Earth; Rebecca Lenkiewicz’s Hot Milk; Oliver Hermanus’ The History of Sound; Dylan Southern’s The Thing With Feathers; John Crowley’s We Live In Time; Polly Findlay’s Midwinter Break; and Asif Kapadia’s 2073.

Film4 has developed and co-financed many of the most ground-breaking and successful UK films including Yorgos Lanthimos’ The Favourite; Martin McDonagh’s Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri; Lenny Abrahamson’s Room; Asif Kapadia’s Amy; Steve McQueen’s 12 Years a Slave; Andrea Arnold’s American Honey; Phyllida Lloyd’s The Iron Lady, Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire; Sarah Gavron’s Rocks; Pawel Pawlikowski’s Cold War; Lynne Ramsay’s You Were Never Really Here; Rungano Nyoni’s I Am Not a Witch; Chris Morris’ Four Lions; Shane Meadows’ This is England; and Jonathan Glazer’s Under the Skin.

For more information: https://www.film4productions.com/

ABOUT GOOD GATE MEDIA

Good Gate Media is run by producer John Giwa-Amu. 2024 titles include Walter Mosely’s The Man in My Basement starring Corey Hawkins and Willem Dafoe, directed by Nadia Latif. And an unannounced drama/thriller feature with BFI/F4 in Lagos, Nigeria. John’s previous projects include Berlin winner, The Party, Theatrical drumming documentary Count Me In, and the BIFA/BAFTA Cymru Winning cult Sci-Fi, The Machine.

GGM’s gaming studio is in production on an Afro-Futurist story game with Venture Capital Fund, Impact X. The company’s TV arm has a several high end television projects in development with Studio partners, including a scripted West African thriller series with A-List talent announcing soon.

ABOUT LIONSGATE STUDIOS

Lionsgate Studios (Nasdaq: LION) is one of the world's leading standalone, pure play, publicly-traded content companies. It brings together diversified motion picture and television production and distribution businesses, a world-class portfolio of valuable brands and franchises, a talent management and production powerhouse and a more than 20,000-title film and television library, all driven by Lionsgate's bold and entrepreneurial culture.

ABOUT LIONSGATE

Lionsgate (NYSE: LGF.A, LGF.B) owns approximately 87% of the outstanding shares of Lionsgate Studios Corp. (Nasdaq: LION), one of the world’s leading standalone, pure play, publicly-traded content companies, as well as the premium subscription platform STARZ.