Ian McKellen stars in first look at "life-affirming" new film featuring Doctor Who and British comedy legends
McKellen stars alongside Roger Allam in an upcoming adaptation of stage play Frank & Percy – with the star-studded cast also including the likes of Stephen Fry, Joanna Lumley and Ncuti Gatwa.
A new image has been released for upcoming film Frank and Percy – which sees Sir Ian McKellen and Roger Allam reprise their roles from the West End show of the same name.
The still – which you can see above – features the two stars sitting on a park bench and smiling at each other, both of them accompanied by pet dogs on leads.
According to an official synopsis, the comedy-drama follows two older men who meet while walking their dogs on Hampstead Heath.
"What begins as casual conversation about the weather and aching hips gradually deepens into an unexpected friendship – and perhaps something more," the logline reads. It also describes the film as "wryly funny", "poignantly tender" and "a heartfelt, life-affirming tale".
In addition to the new image, an impressive list of additional supporting cast members have now been confirmed – including Doctor Who star Peter Davison, Gavin & Stacey's Rob Brydon and Dame Sheila Hancock.
The other new faces are Felicity Kendal (The Good Life), Nitin Ganatra (Mr Bigstuff), Peter Straker (Urban Gothic), Amari Bacchus (Adolescence), Hugh Skinner (W1A) and celebrated dancer Wayne Sleep.
Meanwhile, a host of massive names had previously been announced for the ensemble, including Sir Stephen Fry, Dame Joanna Lumley, Sir Derek Jacobi, Dame Siân Phillips, Ncuti Gatwa and Baby Reindeer's Jessica Gunning – so there's certainly no shortage of star power.
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The film was written by Martin Sherman (Mrs Henderson Presents), while Sean Mathias takes on directorial duties after previously helming the stage version – which opened at Windsor's Theatre Royal in 2023 before transferring to the West End later that year.
No official release date has been announced for the project as yet, but we'll be on the lookout for further updates.
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Authors
Patrick Cremona is the Senior Film Writer at Radio Times, and looks after all the latest film releases both in cinemas and on streaming. He has been with the website since October 2019, and in that time has interviewed a host of big name stars and reviewed a diverse range of movies.
