OUTLAW King, hailed as ‘Netflix’s best big budget movie to date’, will deliver another boost for Scottish tourism following its premiere last week at the Toronto International Film Festival.
The film, from Scottish director David Mackenzie, stars Chris Pine and Aaron Taylor-Johnson in an all-action tale about the 14th century rebel and his fight to win back control of his homeland.
It will be shown at the London Film Festival in October before being released on to Netflix worldwide on November 9.
READ MORE: Bruce Almighty: the man, the myth and the legend of King Robert
The Sunday National can reveal that next month a new visitor trail featuring key sites and locations from the film will be launched by Historic Environment Scotland. This is expected to build on the tourism booms Scotland has already enjoyed from historical drama Outlander and Avengers: Infinity War.
A spokesperson for HES said: “We are developing a ‘Robert the Bruce Trail’ that will map the adventures of the man himself and inspire visitors to follow in his footsteps.
“The structure of this will be similar to our existing Outlander and Mary Queen of Scots trails and Movie Maps, which not only feature filming locations, but other HES properties linked to history.”
The places and locations along the trail will be revealed at the start of October and will be promoted by Visit Scotland, but one early inclusion is improvements to the area around the ruins of St Serf’s Church at Levengrove Park in Dumbarton.
Duncan Thompson, chair of the Strathleven Artizans based at the King of Scots Robert the Bruce Heritage Centre in Renton said: “We weren’t involved in the filming, but we did manage to send wooden hearts from an oak tree that Robert the Bruce planted to Chris Pine and his body double while they were in Scotland.
“HES have redone the walls and the areas around the Bruce plaque in Levengrove Park, which looks very smart now, and that will be part of the trail. It’s all worked out really really well in terms of the film and the trail.
“We can definitely already see more people coming here already, and once the film is released we are hoping that it’s going to be a massive boost for tourism in the area.
‘‘Dumbarton castle is also in the area so there is a lot for visitors coming here. For us as a wee village more interest in Robert the Bruce could mean a lot of visitors.
“He’s one of the most famous names in the world, people know who King Robert the Bruce is instantly. His fight for independence and freedom is one of the greatest fights for independence through the years.”
Ian McClumpha, Chair of the Robert the Bruce Commemoration Trust in Dumfries said: “We are enthusiastic and delighted about the new film and can’t wait for its release. We’re certain it will increase visitor numbers and interest in local and Scottish medieval history. Our Trust is currently working to establish a small visitor centre/museum here in Dumfries where the murder [of nobleman John Comyn] that changed the course of Scottish history actually happened!”.
Robert the Bruce participated in the murder of John Comyn in Greyfriars Church in 1306. Comyn had claim to the Scottish throne and was a common rival of Bruce. The circumstances around his murder remain a mystery to this very day.
Film and TV location tourism in Scotland is benefiting from increased spending on productions. Last month Creative Scotland revealed that film and TV production had been worth £95m to the Scottish economy in 2017 compared to just £45m in 2014, and £23m in 2007.
Outlaw King is the biggest ever movie production to be shot in Scotland.
Filmed in multiple locations, including Edinburgh, West Lothian, Aviemore and Glencoe, it is estimated to have been worth around £17.5m to the economy.
Critics however were divided about the film after seeing it premiere at Toronto.
Stuart Oldham of Variety.com said the film was “Netflix’s best big budget movie to date. Epic, brutal, surprisingly hilarious and tender..."
However, chief film critic Peter Debruge from Variety said Outlaw King “would be a dreary chore to sit through” if not for the chemistry between Pine and actress Florence Pugh, who plays Elizabeth de Burgh.
David Slims of The Atlantic said the Outlaw King was “a gucky, methodical, extremely unromantic retelling of the Scottish war of independence with lots of blood n’ mud n’ guts.”
But the growth in location tourism continues in Scotland, and could be further boosted later this year with the release of the Mary Queen of Scots, starring Saoirse Ronan, Margot Robbie and David Tennant, however this has attracted early criticism from historians about accuracy.
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