By PAUL REVOIR and BAZ BAMIGBOYE

The right gear for cycling: Actor Colin Firth hits the streets in yellow waterproof jacket and helmet


It has been hard to avoid images of him in recent weeks dressed up in his regal finery as King George VI in the hit film The King’s Speech.

But you would be hard pressed to tell it was the same man after actor Colin Firth was spotted taking a ride on his bike wearing a decidedly dressed-down outfit.

The 50-year-old star was seen on a cycle in a fluorescent yellow and black anorak with a colour co-ordinated helmet, apparently out on a trip to the shops.

With a plastic bag hung over the handle-bars, he wore ankle-reflectors, running shoes and flashy cycling glasses as he pedalled along the streets.

It is all a far cry from the bowler hats, tailored suits and military regalia he was seen wearing in The King’s Speech.

Mr Firth, who has just won the Golden Globe for best actor, is now a favourite for Oscar success for his part in the film which chronicles how George VI coped with a crippling speech impediment.


Costume drama: Colin with co-stars Helena Bonham Carter and Geoffrey Rush in The King's Speech


The film has been taking over £1million a day at the UK box-office and has dramatically increased its odds on winning the top prize at the Academy Awards. So far the film had taken £17.1 million on its seventeenth day of release.

Meanwhile, over in Beverly Hills, the picture, which also stars Helena Bonham Carter and Geoffrey Rush, scooped the Producers Guild of America best film trophy.
The win is of significance because the past three winners of the PGA Award,T

he Hurt Locker, Slumdog Millionaire, and No Country For Old Men, went to take the Academy Award for best film.


That's more like it: Firth dressed in more conventional mode when he collected his Golden Globe award last week


In fact the PGA triumph was something of a surprise for The King’s Speech and an upset for the Facebook movie The Social Network which had been winning awards almost on a weekly basis since early December, including last week’s Golden Globe.

The smart money had been on The Social Network to continue sweeping up honours. But now a movie about a monarch with a stammer that cost less than £9 million - a shoe-string budget as far as major film-making goes - could go on to collect the film world’s biggest prize.


Favourite: Firth is the frontrunner to pick up an Oscar for his portrayal of King George VI


Later this week The King’s Speech will pass the £18.3 million Billy Elliot took, and the £20million taken by Calendar Girls and Shakespeare In Love.

Oscar nominations are announced tomorrow and the Bafta ceremony is in a couple of weeks. Both events will help propel ticket sales.

The film-makers original estimate for box-office takings for the its entire run would have been in the £12million to £15million range.

Now it is thought the film could end up taking up to £30 million.



forget everything else, and just say it to me.


source :dailymail