Stone of Destiny is a 2008 British-Canadian adventure/comedy film directed by Charles Martin Smith. It stars Charlie Cox, Billy Boyd, Robert Carlyle, Kate Mara and Brenda Fricker.

The film is based on real events and tells the story of the theft of the Stone of Scone on Christmas Day, 1950. The stone, supposedly the pillow stone used by Jacob in the Bible and the stone over which Scottish Kings were traditionally crowned at Scone in Perthshire, was seized by the English King Edward I in 1296 and placed under the throne at Westminster Abbey in London. In 1950, a nationalist plot 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.

Other cast members include Peter Mullan, Rab Affleck, Bryan Lowe, Ciaron Kelly, and Stephen McCole. Filming began in June 2007 in locations including Westminster Abbey, the University of Glasgow, Ayr and Paisley including Film City studio and Arbroath Abbey. The film was premiered at the Edinburgh International Film Festival in Fountainbridge, Edinburgh, Scotland on June 21, 2008. The film closed the 33rd Annual Toronto International Film Festival on September 13, 2008; and was presented at The Hampton's International Film Festival in the US; a wider release is set for late 2008.

Taut tartan tale takes ten tense twists to true triumph!

For my review of Stone Of Destiny, a docudrama with just the right amount of cheese, admiringly set in Scotland circa 1950 A.D., please see the thread title...

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