Saipan film shares in €121m in movie tax credits paid out by Revenue in 2024

Wild Atlantic Pictures received a movie tax credit of between €500,000 and €1m for the film last year, Revenue figures show

Steve Coogan and Éanna Hardwicke as Mick McCarthy and Roy Keane in Saipan. Picture: Aidan Monaghan

The upcoming film focusing on the events in Saipan before the 2002 World Cup shared in the €121.63m paid out by the Revenue Commissioners in tax credits to film and TV production firms last year.

Figures provided by the Revenue Commissioners show the producers of Saipan, Wild Atlantic Pictures, received a movie tax credit between €500,000 and €1m for the film last year.

The film stars Steve Coogan as Mick McCarthy and Éanna Hardwicke as Roy Keane in the film about the events leading up to Ireland's 2002 World Cup campaign.

The €121.63m paid out to production firms compared to €129.54m paid out in 2023.

The amount paid out by Revenue in 2024 in tax credits declined by 6%, despite the cap on qualifying expenditure on projects increasing from €70m to €125m.

A spokeswoman for Revenue confirmed the increased cap to €125m was certified on or after March 28 last by the arts minister.

The figures show Sharon Horgan’s second season of Bad Sisters received tax credits of between €2m and €5m. The tax credits were paid out to Ms Horgan's Merman Television Dublin Ltd.

The Dublin-based post-production firm Screen Scene Ltd worked on the multi-award winning Shogun drama and the Revenue figures show Screen Scene Ltd received movie tax credits of between €2m and €5m for the film in 2024.

Elsewhere, Wild Atlantic Pictures Ltd received €2m to €5m for The Drop while Cross Keys Production received between €2m to €5m for its upcoming Sherlock & Daughter series.

Boulder Media received tax credits of between €2m to €5m for Krapopolis season three.

The makers of Saipan, Wild Atlantic Pictures Ltd, also received tax credits of between €1m and €2m for Finnegan’s Foursome, directed by and starring Edward Burns.

The film follows two middle-aged brothers and their respective sons who travel to Ireland to play the Finnegan family’s annual golf outing, where they distribute the ashes of the family patriarch.

Multi-award-winning Brown Bag Films secured tax credits of between €1m and €2m for The Sneetches.