Stars shine on Hoffman’s British directing debut

Veterans Albert Finney, Maggie Smith and Tom Courtenay are all set to appear in Quartet, about a group of elderly opera singers in a retirement home for musicians who reunite for one more performance.

It is based on a play by Ronald Harwood, winner of an Oscar for his screenplay for The Pianist, which had a run of four months in the West End in 1999.

Hoffman, a two-time Oscar winner for Best Actor, has been at the Cannes film festival to promote his new film, Kung Fu Panda 2.