News

Jason Isaacs, Colin Morgan and Jess Barden attached to star.

Sony Pictures International Productions has acquired UK and Ireland rights to Iain Softley’s dark comedy thriller The Dead Spit Of Kelly, which worldwide sales agent Myriad Pictures will continue to discuss with buyers at the virtual EFM next week.

Jason Isaacs, Colin Morgan and Jess Barden are attached to star for Grand Pictures and Forthcoming Films.

Softley will direct the UK-Ireland dark comedy from a screenplay by Johnny Ferguson set in turn-of-the-century Dublin where a diligent taxidermist Murphy (Morgan) is tormented by his boss, the vile and volatile Kelly...

Fontaines D.C. are a band of nice Irish lads with a knack for crisp, cutting guitars that bounce by like a fast-walking drunk guy knocking you off a sidewalk, and an endearingly affirmative view of life: “Dublin in the rain is mine/A pregnant city with a Catholic mind,” singer Grian Chatten offered at the opening of the band’s great 2019 debut LP, Dogrel, an album where dark, moody post-punk blight was buoyed by a distinctly Irish lyricism, working out their own uniquely Joycean take on Joy Division.

The...

The actor describes the process as 'a grind' in an interview to publicise the film

• News: Michael Fassbender says no to Oscar campaign

• News: 12 Years a Slave a 'torch' for race relations, says Steve McQueen

Age: 36.

Appearance: Nope, he won't be making one of those.

Excuse me? The lantern-jawed hottie of an Irish-German movie star has announced that he is "too busy working" to take part in the screenings and interviews that campaigning for an Oscar nomination requires, despite being hotly tipped for his role as a sadistic plantation owner in British director Steve McQueen's 12 Years a Slave.

Hold on. How do we know this? He told GQ. "It's just a grind," quoth he.

Didn't that interview publicise 12 Years a Slave? Now you mention it, yes it did. Mind you, perhaps his aversion to Oscar campaigning is understandable. Joaquin Phoenix called the Academy awards "the worst-tasting carrot I've ever...

Barbican, London

A season of films about London reveals how fog, rain and gloom of all kinds add to the mystique of the capital

I've been told that London's reputation for fog is not only due to the fact that it used to be foggy. It was also because cash-strapped postwar film-makers found it convenient to shroud their scenes in mist because they wouldn't have to build so much of the set – just one or two house fronts instead of a street. If this story is an urban myth, no matter, as it tells a truth about London on film. The city's greatest gift to the movie camera is its atmospherics, its fog, rain and darkness.

In ordinary daylight it is obstinately factual. If cinema likes to make cities into dream versions of themselves, London doesn't join in. The brick terraces, the railings, pavements, bollards and postboxes remain themselves. They...

The same daredevil spirit that has informed many an apparently insane film or TV version over the past decade has seen adaptations of literary novels

When the Cannes film festival starts next week, William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying, adapted and directed by James Franco, will be in the lineup. The Spider-Man star is known for mixing bookish projects with acting in blockbusters, but has nevertheless raised eyebrows by selecting a novel with 15 narrators that tells the seemingly uncinegenic story of a southern matriarch's death and burial.

This month will also see Paul Thomas Anderson begin to shoot his version of Thomas Pynchon's Inherent Vice, the first of Pynchon's dauntingly complex works to be filmed; and Steven Soderbergh recently announced plans for a 12-hour TV dramatisation of John Barth's The Sot-Weed Factor ("If it works, it'll be super-cool. And if it doesn't, you won't be able to...

Tales of Manchester noir, Hackney gangs and Russian love should light up our screens in 2012

Tom Green

Tom Green is on a mission to change the face of British TV drama. If the claim seems inflated, just look what the 32-year-old from Cambridge pulled off on his first directorial assignment two years ago. Green was just six weeks out of film school when he was asked to launch a supernatural comedy-drama series for E4. He directed three episodes of Misfits in its first season and three more in its second, by which time the series had won a Bafta and was averaging nearly 1.5 million viewers per episode.

Now, Green is taking charge of a new BBC1 five-part drama called The Fuse, due to air in May. It stars Christopher Eccleston as a corrupt Manchester politician given a chance to right the wrongs in his past, even as he tries to evade a murder charge.

Ireland's answer to Gérard Depardieu on Hogwarts fame and working with Spielberg and the McDonagh brothers

You worked with Martin McDonagh on In Bruges, and now you're working with his brother John Michael, also a writer-director, on The Guard. Both films are violent, gleefully obscene and packed with movie references; both feature amoral Irishmen in the leads. What sets the brothers' work apart?

There is a similar palate in terms of humour, but their sensibilities are very different. You can't imagine one brother's character in the other's world. With Martin, you never hate anyone, even if his characters do the most appalling things, whereas John cares less whether you love his characters or not.

How would you describe The Guard?

It's a comedy, I think. People are calling it a "comedy-thriller" but I'm not sure about the thriller end of it. It's not a question of whether my character [Sergeant Gerry Boyle] will catch the baddie,...

Michael Fassbender has joined At Swim-Two-Birds, the directorial debut of Brendan Gleeson, according to Screen Daily.

He joins Colin Farrell, Cillian Murphy, Gabriel Bryne, and Gleeson, as well as Gleeson's son in the adaptation of Irish author Flann O'Brien's coming-of-age novel.

The story follows a 19-year-old student who starts to see the fictional characters in the play he is writing become reality withthe people in his own life.

The film is set to start production in Spring 2012, which means it won't hit theaters for a while.

Michael Fassbender has joined the cast of 'At-Swim-Two-Birds'. The 'X-Men: First Class' actor will star alongside Colin Farrell, Gabriel Byrne and Cillian Murphy in the forthcoming production, directed by Brendan Gleeson, who will also star in the movie based on Flann O'Brien's 1939 novel. The movie tells the tale of a teenage student who writes using people from his own life in his creations, and Gleeson has been working on the movie for the last four years, having purchased the rights seven years ago. His son Domhnall will also star in the film, which...

With the addition of dreamy Magneto Michael Fassbender, Brendan Gleeson's "At-Swim-Two Birds" is threatening to be crushed under the weight of its delightfully broody cast.

Fassbender, who will be appearing as a kinky Carl Jung in David Cronenberg's "A Dangerous Method," has signed on to star alongside Cillian Murphy, Gabriel Byrne, and Colin Farrell in Gleeson's adaptation of the revered Irish novel.

Gleeson's had his "Mad Eye" on making Flann O'Brien's book a movie for years, and finally secured funds for the flick this past weekend, as well as the toothy Mr. Fassbender. According to the BBC, this 1939 book gets all meta on the reader when its young protagonist finds himself at the mercy of the characters he's created. It will be very interesting to see how this first-time director takes on this unwieldy but awesome tale that was far ahead of its time.

The industry hive...

Michael Fassbender (Inglourious Basterds) has been reportedly cast in Brendan Gleeson's period drama 'At Swim Two Birds'. Gleeson is set to both direct and star in the film which is an adaptation of Flann O'Brien's 1939 novel of the same name. Fassbender is the latest in a long list of top Irish acting talents who have already been attached to the project including Gabriel Byrne (In Treatment), Cillian Murphy (The Wind That Shakes the Barley), Colin Farrell (Phonebooth), Jonathan Rhys Meyers (The Tudors) and Gleeson's son Domhnall Gleeson (Sensation).

[1] The ubiquitous Michael Fassbender will be joining fellow Irishmen Gabriel Byrne, Colin Farrell, Cillian Murphy and Domhnall Gleeson in Brendan Gleeson's directorial debut, a big-screen adaptation of Flann O'Brien's classic novel At Swim-Two-Birds. The project has been a long time in the works -- Gleeson initially acquired the book rights seven years ago -- but it seems to finally be picking up steam thanks to some new financers. Shooting is scheduled to begin next spring. First published in 1939, At Swim-Two-Birds is considered one of the greatest examples of metafiction ever written. The plot revolves around a university student and writer whose characters rebel and eventually conspire to kill him. Although I've never read the novel, that all-star cast seems like reason enough to get excited for the film. [ThePlaylist [2]] After the jump, Isabelle Huppert joins a mystery project and Roswell FM gets two more stars. Isabelle Huppert has teamed...

Screen Daily reports that Michael Fassbender ( X-Men: First Class ) has joined Brendan Gleeson's directorial debut, At Swim-Two-Birds . He's joining a cast that includes Colin Farrell, Cillian Murphy, Gabriel Byrne and Gleeson, as well as Gleeson's son, Domhnall. Filming is targeted for a spring 2012 start. The film is an adaptation of Irish author Flann O'Brien's seminal metaphysical novel, a coming-of-age tale about a 19-year-old student who sees the fictional characters in the play he's writing intertwining with the people in his life.

Michael Fassbender has joined the cast of the long-gestating drama At Swim-Two-Birds for director-actor Brendan Gleeson.

It isn't known what character Michael Fassbender plays, although he joins a cast which includes Colin Farrell, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Cillian Murphy, Gabriel Byrne, and Brendan Gleeson.

Brendan Gleeson will direct At Swim-Two-Birds from his own screenplay, which is adapted from the 1939 novel by Flann O'Brien. The story follows a teenage writer who fills his short stories with characters based on people in his own life.

Brendan Gleeson first acquired the rights to this novel seven years ago, and it seems this will finally go into production in spring 2012.

At Swim-Two-Birds comes to theaters in 2013 and stars Colin Farrell, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Cillian Murphy, Brendan Gleeson, Gabriel Byrne, Michael Fassbender. The film is directed by Brendan Gleeson.

Michael Fassbender has signed on to star in Brendan Gleeson's adaptation of the Irish novel At-Swim-Two-Birds. The X-Men: First Class actor is the latest to join the cast of the long-announced project, The Playlist reports. Gabriel Byrne, Colin Farrell and Cillian Murphy are also lined up to appear in the movie. Gleeson, who plays Mad-Eye Moody in the Harry Potter series, bought the rights to the Flann O'Brien book approximately seven years ago. At-Swim-Two-Birds (more)...

In case you weren't aware, actor Brendon Gleeson of such films as In Bruges and Green Zone has been looking to make his directorial debut for quite some time now with an adaptation of Flann O'Brien's 1939 novel At Swim-Two-Birds. Now it sounds like the project may finally be coming together to shoot in spring 2012, and the cast just gained a fantastic talent. Screen Daily spoke recently with Gleeson who revealed that X-Men: First Class star Michael Fassbender would be starring in the film. That's a great name to add to a passion project for Gleeson that has been in the works for a little over seven years now. In addition, though we hadn't previously reported on the project, the cast also has In Bruges co-star Colin Farrell signed on along with Gabriel Byrne, Cillian Murphy and Domhnall Gleeson, the actor's son who is slowly becoming a rising star. For...

Michael Fassbender has joined the cast of Brendan Gleeson's directorial debut, At Swim-Two-Birds. The movie looks set to be a celebration of all things Irish, with Gabriel Byrne, Colin Farrell and Cillian Murphy already attached. Gleeson and his son Domhall are also set to star. Gleeson is adapting the movie from Flann O'Brien's 1939 novel. It doesn't look like the actor is going easy on himself for his first stab at writing and directing though, with the novel's complex meta-plot defying easy summarisation. It concerns a student who is...

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Pic Finds Funding For Spring 2012 Shoot; Gabriel Byrne, Colin Farrell, Cillian Murphy Still Attached After rumors swirled of his involvement in Brendan Gleeson's long-gestating adaptation of Flann O'Brien's classic 1939 Irish novel, "At Swim-Two-Birds" last year, man-of-the-moment Michael Fassbender is the latest addition to join the cast. The casting marks another chapter in the long road for Gleeson who acquired rights to the book seven years ago, and has spent four years adapting novel, with most of his all-Irish cast attached for over two years. The main hurdle to production so far? Financing, though Gleeson looks to have now…...

One of my favourite festivals is the tiny but perfectly formed Galway theatre festival – and this year's instalment promises to be as brilliant (and boozy) as ever

What makes for a good arts festival? Above all, it has to be distinctive. Edinburgh is obviously defined by its omnivorousness, Manchester by its air of radical experiment. And the Galway arts festival, which kicks off on 11 July, is for me marked by its high-quality selectiveness and liver-testing hospitality. Under the direction of Paul Fahy, himself trained as a visual artist, it clearly believes that nothing but the best is good enough. I've been twice in recent years and have been struck by the way everything on view is excellent, whether it's Blondie in the Festival Big Top or Ed Byrne performing in a room over a pub.

One of the big events in Galway this year is clearly going to be Cillian Murphy...

As Dustin will attest, after going on a Michael Fassbender Bender a few weeks ago, I started a list called "The Best Irish Films." Then I scrapped that list because I somehow felt obliged to watch all the Irish films before being qualified to talk about "The Best". But you can't watch all the Irish films, folks and when you try, as I did, you end up watching a lot of films on terrorism. And then everything gets a little bleak. And then you have to wash your soul in whiskey and start again. I didn't make it, friends. I didn't watch them all. So I'm renaming this list "My Favorite Irish Films" and, to add insult to injury, I'm going to use a fairly loose definition of "Irish" (Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland, Irishmen Abroad!)

Also, lucky for me, a lovely and comprehensive article about Irish biopics was already...

With half-a-dozen films in the pipeline, it's just a shame this actor didn't make it onto the Guardian's top 10 of new British talent

Who is he?

A 27-year-old Irish actor with half-a-dozen potentially starmaking films in the pipeline. First up is the new Harry Potter, in which he plays a Weasley. Then Never Let Me Go, with Keira Knightley, Andrew Garfield and Carey Mulligan and others on the Guardian's recent top 10 of hot British film talent.

Why wasn't Gleeson on the list?

There is a clue in "27-year-old Irish actor". He is also in the Coen brothers' tasty-looking western remake True Grit.

What has he done before?

Theatre, some Irish TV and a few film roles. He was in the Broadway run of Martin McDonagh's play Lieutenant of Inishmore and his first film was McDonagh's short Six Shooter.

He shares a surname with a notable Irish actor. Coincidence?

Nope.

Fans of the "Harry Potter" films will know him as one of the Weasley clan, but Brendan Gleeson's eldest son Domhnall, 27, prefers much more arty fare. This week he told the press that working with the Coen brothers (who have given the world crossover hits like "Blood Simple" and "Fargo") was a "dream come true." Despite his enthusiasm for their work Gleeson still insists he has no plans to move to Hollywood, though. The young Irish actor spent the summer with directors Ethan and Joel Coen along with veteran Coen favorite Jeff Bridges on a remake of the classic Western, "True Grit". "Working with the Coen brothers was a dream come true," Gleeson said. "Basically I was working with people who are at the top of their game and that haven't put a foot wrong. I've watched all of their work, and seeing them on set and seeing them doing their thing is incredible.

It has been announced that, due to personal reasons, Annette Bening will not be present at the Galway Film Fleadh. The Actors Masterclass will be replaced by Ros and John Hubbard for a Casting Masterclass (July 10) and Emmy winning Irish actor Brendan Gleeson will take part in the public interview (July 11). Gleeson will be the subject of a public interview on Sunday, July 11th at 3:00pm. The Emmy and Ifta award winning actor has starred in projects such as the 'Into the Storm', 'Gangs of New York', 'The General' and the series of 'Harry Potter' films. The public interview will see Gleeson answering questions about his career choices, his approach to acting and his upcoming directorial debut in a film adaptation of Flann O'Brien's novel 'At Swim Two Birds'.

This month Irish actor Brendan Gleeson is bringing Ireland’s leading men together to make the film version of Flann O'Brien’s masterpiece At Swim-Two-Birds. The dream cast will include Gabriel Byrne, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Cillian Murphy and Colin Farrell. All four have worked with Gleeson before but have never appeared in a film together. Gleeson himself will make his directorial debut with the film, a coming-of-age tale about a lazy, frequently drunk 19-year-old Irish college student who lives with his killjoy uncle in Dublin. The young man’s writing a second rate novel he’s too lazy to finish and things get sticky when the characters he’s created come to life and start to rebel against him. Gleeson knows that each of these world famous Irish actors have genuine comic gifts (and Gleeson’s no shrinking violet himself) so expect something completely out of the ordinary. The film...

Saoirse Ronan – for years we have bemoaned the lack of an Irish leading lady. Bemoan no more. Oscar material in “The Lovely Bones” and a young woman set for an incredible career in 2010 and beyond. Colin Farrell – “In Bruges” won him his Golden Globe and the Dublin actor is suddenly showing a new maturity and consistency in his roles including in his latest “Crazy Heart” with Jeff Bridges. Expect big things in 2010. Brendan Gleeson. His Emmy for Churchill was well deserved and his upcoming debut as Director of Flann O'Brien's book “At Swim Two Birds” may put him in the heat of the Oscar hunt in 2011. A career that just keeps getting better and better. Gabriel Byrne. Won an overdue Emmy for “In Treatment” on HBO in which he stars as an Irish psychiatrist. Finally picking the right roles too after many years of dubious choices. Alec Baldwin. Best actor on television.

Irish production company Parallel Pictures will produce an adaptation of Flann O'Brien's 'At Swim-Two-Birds'. Reports have been confirmed today that Brendan Gleeson has adapted the novel and will direct and star in the project. A cream lineup of Irish acting talent including Gabriel Byrne, Cillian Murphy and Colin Farrell are reportedly set to star. 'At Swim-Two-Birds' tells the tale of an adolescent boy who comes across the characters he creates for a play in the real-life world. The film stands to be a $11 million project which will be co-funded by the Irish Film Board. The project is still at the financing stage and a shoot date has yet to be confirmed.

Irish production company Parallel Pictures is bringing together the cream of Irish film talent for a couple of project, reports Variety . First up is an adaptation of Irish author Flann O'Brien's seminal metaphysical novel "At Swim-Two-Birds." Irish actor Brendan Gleeson will make his directorial debut with the film, a coming-of-age tale about a 19-year-old student who sees the fictional characters in the play he's writing intertwining with the people in his life. Colin Farrell, Cillian Murphy and Gabriel Byrne have all boarded the $11 million project. Gleeson adapted the book for the screen and will also co-star. The company's Alan Moloney is also producing The Virgin of Las Vegas with U2's Bono. Liam Neeson is attached to star in the $14 million project, which...

According to Variety, Parallel Pictures, based out of Ireland, is putting together some high profile projects.

The company will be making an adaptation of Flann O'Brien's novel At Swim-Two-Birds. Brendan Gleeson will be adapting and directing this film.

It is a coming-of-age tale that sees a 19-year-old student watch "the fictional characters in the play he's writing intertwining with the people in his life."

Colin Farrell, Cillian Murphy and Gabriel Byrne are all starring in this film, which is budgeted at $11 million. Gleeson will also be a co-star in this film.

Also, Parallel President Alan Moloney will be producing The Virgin of Las Vegas. Co-producing this project is U2 frontman Bono.

Liam Neeson will be starring in this film which is budgeted at $14 million.

The film looks at show bands which were very popular in Irish pop culture. Before television became so prevalent, these bands would play cover songs...