Helen Mirren to film Catherine the Great in Lithuania

A major new UK drama about Catherine the Great is preparing to film in Lithuania.

Helen Mirren stars as the iconic Russian monarch in the four-part drama that comes from New Pictures and Origin Pictures. She also executive produces alongside director Philip Martin, David M Thompson from Origin and New Pictures’ Charlie Pattinson.

The majority of the shoot will take place in Lithuania with some scenes due to take place in St Petersburg and another couple of Baltic regions, although this is yet to be confirmed.

The four-part mini-series is the third high-end drama collaboration from HBO and Sky under their new partnership deal, following the commission of Chernobyl – also filming mainly in Lithuania - and Gangs of London.

Mirren, who originally brought the idea of playing the empress to Thompson, said at the time of the official greenlight news: “I am very excited by the possibility of embodying a woman from history who grabbed and then wielded great power. She rewrote the rules of governance by a woman and succeeded to the extent of having the word Great attached to her name.”

Lithuania’s filming-friendly profile continues to build – the country was used as the production base for the BBC’s lavish production of War and Peace. It offers a wide range of historic locations and a 20% tax incentive.

Photo via Free Images.com/Eva Schuster.