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"Stone of Destiny has a universally signifi cant story," says producer Rob

Merilees of Canadian production company Infi nity Features, who are coproducing

the fi lm with the UK's The Mob Film Company. "It deals with

the theme of the little guy going up against the big guy, so in that sense,

you could say it was a classic underdog story. But it's also about the

passion of youth. When you're young - you feel like you can do anything;

so it's often the young that buck the trends and the status quo."

made inm sadceo int slcoatlnandd

Helmed by experienced director Charles

Martin Smith, an actor familiar for

many roles but fondly remembered

by Scots for his performance opposite

Sean Connery in the The Untouchables,

The Stone of Destiny stars Stardust's

Charlie Cox, along with Billy Boyd and

Robert Carlyle. The film deals with a

famous and still controversial moment

in Scottish history: the theft by a group

of Scottish students of the Stone of

Scone, an artefact of significant cultural

importance.

"It was Charles Martin Smith who

initially wrote a spec script and brought

it to me and asked if I would produce

it; I loved the story and thought 'Why

hasn't someone done this movie

already?'" says Merilees. "From the

outset, we had no doubts that Stone of

Destiny needed to be shot in Scotland

for accuracy, and we found plenty of

recognisable talent in Scotland as well."

The theft of the Stone took place

in 1950, presenting a considerable

challenge in terms of creating period

detail. "We felt the story, although

based in the fifties, is timeless - so

we tried not to push the era down

audiences throats. We shot mainly in

and around Glasgow - there were so

many great locations in the city that

it was very easy to create the period

- and we used lots of costumes and

period cars to capture the feeling of

the time. Some areas of Glasgow

were useful in doubling up for London,

and parts of Paisley Abbey stood in

for parts of Westminster Abbey," says

Merilees. "We were also able to shoot

in Westminster Abbey in London, where

we were told that this was the first

feature to be allowed to shoot there in

half a century."

With an international audience in

mind, Merilees had to consider one

of the vexed questions of Scottish

identity: would the world be able to

understand the accents? As it turns

out, accent wasn't an issue. "We loved

Trainspotting - that's one brilliant

film. However, this film is made for a

family audience and we need viewers

to understand every word, all around

the world, so we steered away from the

harder accent and went for the naturally

soft and lyrical sound that many Scots

have. I hope the Scots will forgive us

for any creative licence we've taken

here."

"This is a story about four college kids

who set out to wake people up in their

country, when it was under threat of

losing its distinct culture. They hatch

and successfully carry out a plan to

bring the Stone of Destiny back to

Scotland as rallying a symbol for

nationalism," says Merilees, although

he's keen to emphasise that the film is

no polemic. "I think the film should be

seen as entertainment with a message:

the message that you can affect change

in the world by non violent means.

Infinity has been focusing on joint

ventures with studios and international

co-productions to widen the scope of

talent and tell universally appealing

stories. This one just happens to be set

in Scotland."

www.infinityfeatures.net

www.mobfilm.com

"From the outset, we had no doubts that Stone of

Destiny needed to be shot in Scotland for accuracy,

and we found plenty of recognisable talent in

Scotland as well."- Rob Merilees

[ Scottish Screen National Lottery Funded: Content Production ]