Anthony Hopkins Will Play George Frideric Handel in Biopic THE KING OF COVENT GARDEN

According to a report from The Hollywood Reporter, Anthony Hopkins will be taking on another real-life figure by playing composer George Frideric Handel in a new biopic from Andrew Levitas, director of Minimata.

The script for the film, titled The KING of Covent Garden, was written by playwright and professor Tim Slover and centers on Handel while he creates his 1741 masterpiece, Messiah. The KING of Covent Garden will mark Slover's first major feature film credit.

On the script, director Levitas said it "is populated by passionate, real-life experience in all its color and dirt, creating a riveting human story with surprising contemporary relevancy, universal human connectivity and spiritual uplift.”

The story focuses on “an unlikely pair, who meet each other at their lowest points, and together create a magnificent never-heard-before ‘sound for the people’: the groundbreaking masterpiece Messiah, the annual global bestseller for close to 300 years.”

Executive producing is opera singer Katherine Jenkins, who will also serve as a musical advisor and will help with marketing efforts. The film is planned to be released in the fall of 2025.

Anthony Hopkins is an Oscar-winning actor, who has appeared in numerous films including The Elephant Man, The Silence of the Lambs, and The Father. His next project is in Those About to Die, a series which premieres on Peacock in July. He recently finished filming his role as King Herod in an upcoming film based on the story of Mary, the mother of Jesus.