A new film that reunites Alan Bennett and Nicholas Hytner will film in Yorkshire this May.

The Choral, to be directed by Hytner from Bennett’s original screenplay, is set in Ramsden, Yorkshire, in 1916. As the chorus master and many of the men of the local choral society volunteer head off to fight, a group of teenage boys and girls are recruited instead.

Ralph Fiennes, Jim Broadbent and Simon Russell Beale star in The Choral, the fourth collaboration between Bennett and Hytner following The Lady in the Van, The History Boys and The Madness of King George.

Production gets underway in May with financing from Sony Pictures Classics, BBC Film, and Screen Yorkshire.

Hytner will also produce the film alongside Kevin Loader and Damian Jones. Executive producers include Caroline Cooper Charles, Eva Yates, Paul Grindey, and Charles Moore.

Hytner said: “A new screenplay from Alan Bennett is a major event and THE CHORAL is as affecting and funny as anything he’s written in his long career. I am thrilled to be continuing my collaboration with him, and with the three remarkable leading actors.”

Caroline Cooper Charles, CEO at Screen Yorkshire, added: “It’s fantastic to see these stellar talents reunite around a story which celebrates the pride and resilience of our communities in such a distinctive way. We’re so looking forward to welcoming the whole team to realise this wonderful story here in Yorkshire.”

Jim Broadbent image credit: Scottish Documentary Institute via Creative Commons.