Scene set for Hollywood blockbuster

Hollywood could be coming to Newark in the form of a £50m blockbuster film written by the town’s MP, Mr Patrick Mercer.

England’s Gold is billed as an epic tale set around the Crimean War in the 1850s.

Newark Market Place, with the Town Hall as a backdrop, and the castle, would be among the locations used, offering the chance for local people to appear as extras.

Filming would also take place at Alnwick Castle in Northumberland — used as Hogwarts in the Harry Potter films — Latvia and the Ukraine.

Mr Mercer said: “I wouldn’t have signed up for this without an assurance that filming would take place in Newark and I had that.

“Filming will bring some excitement to the town.”

Mr Mercer hopes stars of the calibre of Daniel Radcliffe and Colin Firth would take leading roles.

England’s Gold would combine war movie action with period adventure.

Locations in the Crimea would be likely to include original battlefields.

The latest computer-generated image techniques would be used to create vast, realistic battle scenes.

The England’s Gold story starts and ends in modern Britain as a battalion of the British Army departs for and returns from Afghanistan.

Officers in the battalion are descended from the film’s main characters.

Mr Mercer, who says his first priority remains as MP for Newark, is a historian, lecturer and writer of note on the Crimean War.

“Epic films such as Zulu, Lawrence Of Arabia and The Battle Of Britain were all made a long time ago,” he said.

“It is the right time to do it again. Hollywood knows it’s coming.”

The screenplay, which was finished this week, has yet be sold to Hollywood but Mr Mercer and the production company, Forma Pro Films, hope filming could start later this year.

They are seeking a production budget of £50m.

The head of the board of trustees for the film is Algernon Percy, whose cousin owns Alnwick Castle. Like Mr Mercer, he has a deep-rooted interest in the Crimean War and has written about it.

One of his ancestors, Colonel Henry Percy, won a Victoria Cross leading a bayonet charge at a Russian battery of guns at the Battle of Inkerman.

Mr Percy has no doubt the film would appeal to a worldwide audience.

He said: “It has royal intrigue, the issue of class, romance and bloody battles.”

Julie Zaytseva, from Forma Pro Films, said: “It is a historical action script and the plan is to have the very best distribution.

“It will have the very best in terms of artistry, direction and period setting and costume.

“It is a good time to make this type of story as it has many parallels with today.

“We are in contact with casting agents and will be travelling to the Crimea at the end of May looking for locations.”