Bleecker Street Acquires James Hawes’ ‘One Life’ with Anthony Hopkins, Plans 2024 Release

Bleecker Street announced today that they have acquired the U.S. rights to the 2023 TIFF world premiere One Life, starring two-time Academy Award-winner Sir Anthony Hopkins, alongside Johnny Flynn, Lena Olin, Romola Garai, Alex Sharp, Marthe Keller, with Academy Award-nominated Jonathan Pryce and two-time Academy Award-nominee Helena Bonham Carter. Directed by James Hawes (Black Mirror, Slow Horses) and written by Lucinda Coxon and Nick Drake, the film is a See-Saw Films production, See-Saw developed the film alongside BBC Film. Bleecker Street is planning a 2024 theatrical release.

Based on the book If It’s Not Impossible…: The Life of Sir Nicholas Winton by Barbara Winton, One Life tells the true story of Nicholas ‘Nicky’ Winton (Flynn), a young London broker who visits Prague in December 1938. In a race against time, Winton convinces Trevor Chadwick (Sharp) and Doreen Warriner (Garai) of the British Committee for Refugees in Czechoslovakia to rescue as many children as possible before Nazi occupation closes the borders. Fifty years later, Nicky (Hopkins) is haunted by the fate of the children he wasn’t able to bring to safety in England. It’s not until the BBC show “That’s Life!” re-introduces him to some of those he helped rescue that he finally begins to come to terms with the guilt and grief he carried – all the while skyrocketing from anonymity to a national hero.

In his review for AwardsWatch, Dan Bayer called it “simply touching, one that will leave your face just as tear-stained as Winton’s own when he finally allowed himself to acknowledge how much good he had done.” One Life had its world premiere last month at the Toronto International Film Festival and the film will screen next at the BFI London Film Festival later this week. 

One Life was made with the support of BBC Film, and is a BBC Film and MBK Productions presentation, in association with Cross City Films, FilmNation Entertainment, and Lipsync. Producers are Joanna Laurie, Iain Canning, Emile Sherman, Guy Heeley. Simon Gillis, Eva Yates, Barbara Winton, Maria Logan, Anne Sheehan, Peter Hampden executive produced. Kent Sanderson and Avy Eschenasy negotiated the deal on behalf of Bleecker Street with CAA Media Finance and Simon Gillis on behalf of See-Saw Films and Cross City Films. FilmNation Entertainment is handling international sales.

Also out of TIFF, Bleecker Street acquired the U.S. rights to British comedy Fackham Hall starring Hero Fiennes-Tiffin, Thomasin McKenzie, Katherine Waterston, and Emma Laird, which will begin principal photography in early 2024; and the UK rights to Hayao Miyazaki’s latest film, The Boy and the Heron, alongside Elysian Film Group and Anonymous Content. Bleecker’s upcoming highly-anticipated release slate features Meg Ryan’s What Happens Later, starring Ryan alongside David Duchovny, releasing on November 3;  Sara Bareilles and Jessie Nelson’s Waitress: The Musical, which is set for a December 7 release with Fathom Events; The Origin, a Stone Age-set thriller which recently had its North American premiere at Fantastic Fest; and Gabriela Cowperthwaite’s space station-set thriller I.S.S., which recently debuted at the 2023 Tribeca Festival to acclaim. Recently released titles include: Guy Nattiv’s Golda starring Helen Mirren which is currently in theaters;  Marc Turtletaub’s sci-fi comedy, Jules starring Sir Ben Kingsley; Laurel Parmet’s feature directorial debut and Sundance Film Festival breakout The Starling Girl; and Alice Troughton’s The Lesson with Daryl McCormack, Richard E. Grant, and Julie Delpy.