A passionate story of love, rivalry and a family torn apart by ambition, based on Philippa Gregory's novel.
Against a sexually-charged backdrop of power-hungry nobles and striking lady temptresses, the Boleyn sisters - Mary (Scarlett Johansson, pictured, left) and Anne (Natalie Portman, pictured, right) - are groomed by their ambitious father to catch the wandering eye of Henry VIII (Eric Bana).
It works; Henry beds Mary and she bears him a son. But Anne, recently returned from the French court, wants the king for herself and sets about taking everything that Mary loves away. Soon enough, the king is enraptured by Anne, and Mary can do nothing but watch her sister's rise through the Tudor court. But these are uncertain times and the king is no one's fool. When Anne eventually oversteps the mark, the king's punishment is swift and final.
The Tudors go Hollywood in Justin Chadwick's florid adaptation of Philippa Gregory's 2002 bestselling novel. The threesome of Portman, Johansson and Bana makes intoxicating viewing, while Mark Rylance (Sir Thomas Boleyn) and David Morrissey's (Thomas Howard) political machinations keep the plot on its toes.