Amazing Grace (2006 film)

Amazing Grace
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Michael Apted
Written by	Steven Knight
Produced by	Patricia Heaton David Hunt Terrence Malick Edward R. Pressman Ken Wales
Starring	Ioan Gruffudd Romola Garai Ciaran Hinds Rufus Sewell Youssou N'Dour Michael Gambon Albert Finney
Cinematography	Remi Adefarasin
Edited by	Rick Shaine
Music by	David Arnold
Production companies	FourBoys Films Walden Media Bristol Bay Productions Ingenious Film Partners
Distributed by	Momentum Pictures (United Kingdom) Roadside Attractions Samuel Goldwyn Films (United States)
Release dates	16 September 2006 (2006-09-16) (TIFF) 23 February 2007 (2007-02-23) (US) 23 March 2007 (2007-03-23) (UK)
Running time	118 minutes
Countries	United Kingdom United States
Language	English
Budget	$29 million
Box office	$32.1 million[1]

Amazing Grace is a 2006 biographical drama film directed by Michael Apted, about the abolitionist campaign against the slave trade in the British Empire, led by William Wilberforce, who was responsible for steering anti-slave trade legislation through the British parliament. The title is a reference to the 1772 hymn "Amazing Grace". The film also recounts the experiences of John Newton as a captain of slave ships and subsequent Christian conversion, which inspired his writing of the poem later used in the hymn. Newton is portrayed as a major influence on Wilberforce and the abolition movement.

The film premièred on 16 September 2006 at the Toronto International Film Festival, followed by showings at the Heartland Film Festival, the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, and the European Film Market, before opening in wide US release on 23 February 2007,^[1] which coincided with the 200th anniversary of the date the British parliament voted to ban the slave trade.