The Eagle of the Ninth film based on the Rosemary Sutcliff novel features in the The Guardian newspaper. The makers of Centurion will be not be amused that Kevin Macdonald’s film will, Charlotte Higgins thinks, be ‘more thoughtful and decorous’; nor that the main photo of the full page article about both films is this still photo from The Eagle of the Ninth. Me? I am delighted, of course!
The autumn will bring The Eagle of the Ninth by Kevin Macdonald, adapted from Rosemary Sutcliff’s 1954 children’s story by Jeremy Brock (who also adapted Giles Foden’s novel The Last King of Scotland for Macdonald). It promises to be a more thoughtful and decorous vision of the Roman province. The story has the young centurion Marcus venturing north of Hadrian’s Wall to try to find the eagle – the legion’s standard and symbol of honour – that has been lost with the defeat of the Ninth a generation earlier.
Source: Centurion kicks off British sword and sandals film wave.
ROSEMARY SUTCLIFF (1920-92) 
I do so hope they don’t mess this story up. This movie can either be utterly fabulous or dreadful… fingers crossed eh?
Helen Hollick
historical fiction author & co-scriptwriter of 1066 (the UK movie)
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