Chariots of Fire runs into London for its premiere

Last night audiences up and down the UK had the opportunity to see CHARIOTS OF FIRE on the big screen as Twentieth Century Fox, in association with The Sun, BT and supported by the BFI, hosted their glittering UK premieres of the re-mastered version of this Great British movie, as part of the London 2012 Festival.

For the first time in a generation, the Olympic classic will be re-released into cinemas this coming Friday - July 13th - just 2 weeks ahead of the opening ceremony of the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

London’s Leicester Square premiere was attended by the film’s director Hugh Hudson, cast members Ben Cross, Nigel Havers and Alice Krige, legendary composer Vangelis and a plethora of Great Britain’s finest sportsmen including Dame Kelly Holmes, Roger Black, Duncan Goodhew MBE and Daley Thompson.

Chariots of Fire tells the story of two very different men who compete as runners in the 1924 Paris Olympics:

Eric Liddell is a devout Christian who believes that his athletic abilities are a gift from God, and that using that gift to its fullest extent - to win the gold medal - will be his way of repaying that gift.

Harold Abrahams is an English Jew, a student at Cambridge, who dreams of fame and of proving to his anti-Semitic fellow students, and to the world, that Jews are in no respect inferior.

Their motives are noble. Their commitment is total. Their integrity is unquestionable. They will both make personal sacrifices to achieve their goals. In the process, through all the obstacles and personal issues they conquer, they prove that striving for victory in their own terms is, perhaps, its own reward.

Based on a true story, CHARIOTS OF FIRE was the winner of four Academy Awards®, including Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay, in addition to receiving nominations for three more.

Running back into cinemas July 13, 2012