First look: Éanna Hardwicke as Roy Keane and Steve Coogan as Mick McCarthy in Saipan

Film focuses on the intense rivalry between the two football personalities

Steve Coogan stars as Mick McCarthy alongside Éanna Hardwicke as Roy Keane

A first-look image of Éanna Hardwicke as Roy Keane and Steve Coogan as Mick McCarthy in upcoming film Saipan has been released.

The picture, released by Wildcard and Bankside Films, shows the pair sitting in what appears to be a steam room, with Hardwicke wearing a white jersey from Ireland’s 2002 World Cup kit and sporting a shaved head.

Saipan focuses on the intense rivalry between the two football personalities, following the events of Ireland’s infamous World Cup campaign and the fallout that gripped the nation and the sporting world alike.

The film’s producers have said the film is “a true-life comedy of the most epic proportions. This is the definitive account of one of the most fractious falling-outs in the history of sport.” 

Alongside Cork’s own Hardwicke, who’s featured in the likes of Lakelands and The Sixth Commandment, and Coogan is Jamie Beamish of Derry Girls, Alex Murphy from The Young Offenders, Harriet Carins from Bridgerton and Alice Lowe of Sightseers.

The film is produced by Macdara Kelleher and John Keville for Wild Atlantic Pictures (Evil Dead Rise, Cocaine Bear, Black 47) along with Trevor Birney and Oliver Butler for Fine Point Films (Kneecap, No Stone Unturned) with Patrick O’Neill and Rachael O’Kane serving as Executive Producers.

Saipan is set for theatrical release next year.