The Special Relationship (film)

The Special Relationship
Promotional poster
Genre	Biographical drama
Written by	Peter Morgan
Directed by	Richard Loncraine
Starring	Michael Sheen Dennis Quaid Hope Davis Helen McCrory
Music by	Alexandre Desplat
Country of origin	United States United Kingdom
Original language	English
Production
Executive producers	Kathleen Kennedy Frank Marshall Andrew Harries Christine Langan Peter Morgan
Producers	Frank Doelger Tracey Scoffield Ann Wingate
Cinematography	Barry Ackroyd
Editor	Melanie Oliver
Running time	93 minutes
Production companies	HBO Films BBC Film Rainmark Films The Kennedy/Marshall Company
Original release
Network	HBO
Release	29 May 2010 (2010-05-29)
Network	BBC Two
Release	18 September 2010 (2010-09-18)
Infobox instructions (only shown in preview)

The Special Relationship is a 2010 biographical drama television film directed by Richard Loncraine and written by Peter Morgan. It is the third film in Morgan's informal "Blair trilogy", which dramatizes the political career of British Prime Minister Tony Blair (1997–2007), following The Deal (2003) and The Queen (2006), both directed by Stephen Frears.

The first drafts of The Special Relationship dealt with Blair's special relationships with U.S. presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. However, Morgan excluded the Bush scenes from subsequent drafts (thus ending the narrative on 20 January 2001) because he found the Blair/Clinton dynamic more interesting. Morgan intended to make his directorial debut with the film but backed out a month before filming began and was replaced by Loncraine. The film was produced by Rainmark Films and backed by HBO Films and BBC Films.

The film stars Michael Sheen reprising his role as Blair, Dennis Quaid as Clinton, Hope Davis as Hillary Clinton, and Helen McCrory as Cherie Blair. Principal photography on locations in and around London, England ran from 20 July – 4 September 2009. The film was broadcast on HBO in the United States and Canada on 29 May 2010,^[1] and on BBC Two and BBC HD in the United Kingdom on 18 September 2010.