One Chance, the extraordinary true story of Paul Potts who won Britain’s Got Talent in 2007, releases at Cinema Nouveau and select Ster-Kinekor cinemas on Thursday 17 April.
A shy, bullied shop assistant by day and an amateur opera singer by night, Potts became an instant YouTube sensation after being chosen by Simon Cowell for the then new reality show called Britain’s Got Talent which went on air in the UK.
Singing the famous aria Nessun Dorma from Puccini’s opera Turandot, Potts delivered a beautiful rendition that would change his life forever. Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden and Piers Morgan, the show’s three judges, were awestruck by his performance while the audience of 2,000 at the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff gave Potts a standing ovation.
Potts, then working as a manager at the Port Talbot branch of The Carphone Warehouse, became the first winner of the now hugely popular show and since he won the competition, has become a world famous opera singer.
The movie depicts Potts’ difficult and at often humorous journey from being a steelworker’s son from south Wales who loved opera from an early age and who, despite extreme bullying, cynicism and hardship, never gave up on his dreams.
Directed by David Frankel (The Devil Wears Prada, Marly & Me) and written by Justin Zackham (The Bucket List), One Chance stars BAFTA winner James Cordon (The History Boys) in the role of Potts and is supported by an acclaimed ensemble cast including Julie Walters (Mamma Mia!, Calendar Girls, Billy Elliot), Mackenzie Crook (The Pirates of the Caribbean), Colm Meaney (Get Him To The Greek), Jemima Rooper (Kinky Boots), Valeria Bilello (Pazze Di Me) and rising star Alexandra Roach (The Iron Lady).
One Chance is produced by Mike Menchel, Brad Weston, Kris Thykier (Kick-Ass, The Debt, I Give It a Year), Simon Cowell, and is executive produced by Bob and Harvey Weinstein.
