From "Gladiator" to "1066"

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From Variety...

“Gladiator” scribe William Nicholson is dusting off his sword and sandals to write “1066,” about the confrontation between England’s King Harold and William, Duke of Normandy, for control of the English throne.

William’s victory at the Battle of Hastings, and the Norman takeover of England, earned him the moniker William the Conqueror. It was the last successful hostile invasion of the country.

It’s the first pic greenlit by Shine Pictures, the joint venture set up in July between Shine Group’s Kudos Pictures and New Regency.

Nicholson’s script will focus on the comradeship-turned-deadly rivalry between William and Harold, who died in the battle after being shot in the eye with an arrow.

Shine’s Paul Webster will produce “1066” with joint topper Stephen Garrett and will work with New Regency’s co-chairmen Bob Harper and Hutch Parker. Shine Group chief exec and chairperson Elisabeth Murdoch will also be involved.

No decisions have been made on the two lead roles or the director, although pic has been fast-tracked for production this year.

“The events of 1066 are some of the most fascinating in history, which have never been portrayed on the bigscreen before,” said Webster and Garrett, in a statement. “The scale of the piece is emblematic of Shine’s ambitions. It’s a great way to start off the relationship with New Regency. It will be a big-budget film on an epic scale.”

New Regency will fully finance the project, with Fox handling the release worldwide.

Shine Group and New Regency, which is part owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. and has a distribution deal with Fox, set up Shine Pictures in July last year as a U.K.-based producer of commercial pics for global auds.

The shingle is run by Webster and Garrett, who also runs Kudos, the film and TV company that the Shine Group acquired in December 2006.