Stone of Destiny

Stone of Destiny is a 2008 Scottish-Canadian adventure/comedy film written and directed by Charles Martin Smith and starring Charlie Cox, Billy Boyd, Robert Carlyle, and Kate Mara. Based on real events, the film tells the story of the theft of the Stone of Scone on Christmas Day, 1950. The stone, supposedly the Stone of Jacob over which Scottish Kings were traditionally crowned at Scone in Perthshire, was stolen by King Edward I of England in 1296 and placed under the throne at Westminster Abbey in London. In 1950, a group of student Scottish nationalists succeeded in removing it from Westminster Abbey and returning it to Scotland where it was placed symbolically at Arbroath Abbey, the site of the signing of the Declaration of Arbroath and an important site in the Scottish nationalist cause. Filming began in June 2007 in various locations throughout Scotland, Wales and England. The filmmakers were given rare access to shoot scenes inside Westminster Abbey. The film was premiered at the Edinburgh International Film Festival in Fountainbridge, Edinburgh, Scotland on 21 June 2008. The film closed the 33rd Annual Toronto International Film Festival on 13 September 2008; and was presented at The Hampton's International Film Festival in the United States. The film was released in the United Kingdom on 10 October 2008 and in Canada on 20 February 2009.