Firebrand held its New York Premiere at the 2024 Tribeca Festival in New York City with Jude Law, Alicia Vikaneder, and Karim Aïnouz in attendance on the carpet. The premiere was held at the OKX Theater at BMCC Performing Arts Center in Tribeca.
Firebrand follows the sixth wife of King Henry VIII, Katherine Parr (Alicia VIkander) after she agrees to become the wife of the ailing King during the Tudor period in England. Katherine was an intelligent and educated woman of her time. She was also married twice before her marriage to Henry. After King Henry VIII (Jude Law) appoints Katherine as Regent, she begins to question the teachings of the Church of England and the preaching of her friend Anne Askew. Henry’s health continues to decline, but the ending of the film may be surprising.
We had the chance to chat with Oscar winner Alicia Vikander and Oscar nominee Jude Law on the red carpet about their portrayals of prominent figures in England’s history. Law stated that before the production of the film, he only knew a sketch of who Henry was, but then had a “fever of intrigue to find out as much as possible.”
In her preparation for the role of Katherine Parr, Alicia Vikander shared that the film even had a Tudor expert on set. “That combined with a lot of weeks of rehearsals actually with Karim and Jude,” Vikander shared, “really wanted to make sure that we told truth to a very closed marriage and domestic drama at the heart of it.”
Director Karim Aïnouz also spoke to us about his deep research process into how people lived during the Tudor period. He also read several of Katherine’s published writings and prayers. “The legacy from Katherine was very much about education, solidarity, and fostering the kids who were not her kids. Her stepchildren,” Aïnouz shared.
Firebrand originally competed at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival in May of 2023 where it was sold to STX International and Sony Pictures and later acquired rights to be released in the United States. Firebrand will be in select theaters beginning June 14th, 2024.
Check out our entire Firebrand interviews above!