Celtic Force is proud to be associated with this movie project about Robert the Bruce, King of Scots. We hope you will get behind the grassroots effort to get the word out about it.

Official Press Release:

For Immediate Release…
THE BRUS MOVIE

King of Scots Subject of Major Motion Picture Trilogy from Athair Entertainment

“A noble heart may have no rest if freedom fails.”

Athair Entertainment is using this modern translation of a quote from John Barbour’s epic 1375 poem, The Brus, as the theme for their new project, a series of three sequential movies chronicling the early years of the reign of Robert I.

Spokesman for and founder of the newly formed movie company, Ian Alexander Bruce, today announced the start of preproduction on the trilogy, also titled The Brus. Its sole purpose is to bring to the screen the heroic story of Robert the Bruce and the small band of Scots warriors who fought against the English king Edward I (“Longshanks”) and his son, Edward II, for the independence of Scotland.

Longshanks had coveted the smaller country’s throne ever since the death of King Alexander III in 1286. A brilliant and courageous warrior and politician, Edward used his cunning to place John de Balliol on the Scots throne in 1292, and within four short years to force his abdication. Scotland was in Edward’s pocket.

It was then that the Scots began to suffer the heel of Edward’s boot on their necks, and in May of 1297 arose William Wallace, a younger son of a minor Scots knight, who led a grassroots rebellion against English dominion over Scotland in the south, and at about the same time, Andrew Murray, a young nobleman, did the same or more in the north. Joining forces, they trounced the English troops sent against them at Stirling Bridge in September, but the fight may have cost Andrew Murray his life, as he died before the year was out.

Braveheart, a fanciful version of the years remaining to William Wallace, roused the hearts of most of the world and got a lot of guys out in public in kilts. Scots the world over were especially moved by the epic 1995 movie, which, for all its historical lapses, was an exciting tribute to the Scottish hero.

Athair intends to extol the virtues and detail the adventures of Robert de Brus, King of Scots, who took a symbolic Scots crown and set it upon his own head at Scone in March, 1306. He put his wife, daughter, siblings, friends, supporters, lands and titles, and even his soul in the balance in order to free Scotland from enslavement by King Edward. The regal raiments and other symbols of Scotland’s royalty, and even the Stone of Destiny on which Scots kings had been crowned for centuries, had already been carted south to England to deny the Scots their heritage. It would not be a chivalric war. Losses would be great.

Ian Alexander Bruce wrote the scripts for the series based on the Rebel King novels authored by Charles Randolph Bruce and Carolyn Hale Bruce, who published their trilogy between 2002 and 2006.

Charles was originally inspired to make a movie of the life of Robert de Brus, from whom he descended, he was told as a child, when as an adult he began reading about his forebear’s history. He was stricken with the heroic saga and its primary character, and began writing it as an epic movie in 1992. Taking his script to Hollywood, he found no open doors there, and returned home to try again at some future time.

As they say, everything has its time, and his inspiration must not have been far off, for Braveheart was released three years later.

Years passed, and the story of The Brus would not let him rest; it needed to be told. Since a movie was out of reach for the present, he began researching and writing again in 1999, this time in novel form. By 2002, he and his co-author published Rebel King, Book One, Hammer of the Scots, the story of Robert’s stand against Edward I; two years later, Rebel King, Book Two, The Har’ships told the horrors of the Scots’ turning on each other to determine whether or not Robert I would remain their king; and in 2006, Rebel King, Book Three, Bannok Burn carried the story forward through the day of the greatest battle in Scottish history.

The story that began as an idea for a single movie, then a novel series, is now nearing full circle, and Scots in the United States and in the United Kingdom are joining forces to complete the final arc. Talented people are joining together to fill necessary positions both in front of and behind the camera, and to convince others to join the effort. Excellent scripting of this compelling story, a universal theme that is as true today as it was in King Robert’s time, is but the foundation on which this project is being built.

Donovan Murray has been an event producer and agent over the past decade working with some of the most famous artists on the Celtic music scene and has brought his professional and artistic connections to the company. With contacts on both sides of the Atlantic, the talent we will need is usually separated by just one or two very friendly degrees.

Latest on board with the project is Charlie Allan, CEO of Clanranald Trust for Scotland. He and the Clanranald Trust not only work to promote Scottish history and heritage, but Charlie has invaluable experience and contacts within the movie industry, having worked on many feature films, including Gladiator, Robin Hood,and most recently, The Eagle.

As there is no place else in the world quite like Scotland, it is our intention to do our principle photography in some of the most majestic and historic vistas the land has to offer. Scotland’s government has been putting incentives in place to attract moviemakers, not only to increase the number of available jobs in a depressed economy, but also to draw attention to the fact that quality movies can be made outside Hollywood.

Remembering that Braveheart  struck such a chord with people around the world, Athair expects a similar response to The Brus, their more accurate interpretation of the time.

“Many of us within the company can claim some sort of kinship with Robert the Bruce and he has yet to be treated fairly in movies,” said Bruce. “After being called a traitor in Braveheart,and having such a poor showing in The Bruce,” he adds as an aside, “…don’t bother looking it up, it’s awful, there is a reason you haven’t heard of it…,” he pauses before confessing, “…there is a sense of wanting to put it right in many of us. But that isn’t our main motivation.”

“It is simply a great story that needs to be told. We want to tell it. Ordinary people can overcome hardship and tyranny,” he asserted. “And we hope that our movies not only make us and our investors money, but we want to reignite interest in all things Scottish. There is far more to lure people to Scotland with their dollars than kilts and whiskey.”

“Okay, we’re not going about it in the usual way. Some people think we’re crazy. But Robert’s great advantage was that he went about freeing his countrymen in ways the English didn’t expect. He was a great innovator, and that’s why he succeeded,” Bruce concluded.

Athair Entertainment asks that anyone who would like to see this trilogy completed becomes a champion for The Brus. Send an email to crb@rebelking.com and tell them your thoughts on the project. If you would like your comments to be posted, keep them clean and they will be posted on www.thebrus.com