Filmmakers Lisa Barros D’Sa and Glenn Leyburn (Good Vibrations, Ordinary Love) Saipan are directing a new new film about the events leading up to Ireland’s controversial 2002 World Cup campaign, which is set to go into production this summer. BAFTA-nominated Cork native Éanna Hardwicke (Lakelands, The Sixth Commandment) will play Ireland football captain Roy Keane, and two-time Oscar nominee Steve Coogan (Philomena, The Reckoning) cast as the Ireland manager Mick McCarthy.
The Saipan incident was a very public spat in May 2002 between the then Republic of Ireland national football team captain Roy Keane and manager Mick McCarthy when the team was preparing in Saipan, Japan for its 2002 FIFA World Cup. It resulted in Keane being sent home from the squad. The incident divided public opinion in Ireland and rumbles on to this day.
Award Winning filmmakers Lisa Barros D’Sa and Glenn Leyburn (Good Vibrations, Ordinary Love) are set to direct from an original script by Paul Fraser (Heartlands, A Room For Romeo Brass).
Wildcard and Vertigo Releasing have acquired UK and Ireland rights on the film, and are scheduling a theatrical release for Summer 2025.
Directors Lisa Barros D’Sa and Glenn Leyburn said “We’re thrilled to be working with this extraordinary cast and creative team to tell the story of an infamous moment in Irish and football history that drew battle lines across a nation, cast its hopes, dreams and sense of identity into disarray, and briefly made a tiny volcanic island in the Pacific one of the most famous places on earth.”
Related posts:
