'Keane was one of the defining figures of my childhood': Éanna Hardwicke on Saipan film
Scheduled to be released in cinemas later this year, Saipan will explore the intense and complex rivalry between Roy Keane (Éanna Hardwicke) and Mick McCarthy (Steve Coogan).
The story of how a Cork footballing legend and an Ireland manager clashed on the eve of the World Cup is among the new projects being backed by Screen Ireland for 2025.
Scheduled to be released in cinemas later this year, Saipan will explore the intense and complex rivalry between Roy Keane (Éanna Hardwicke) and Mick McCarthy (Steve Coogan). It exploded onto the global stage just before the 2002 World Cup, leading to Keane’s departure from Ireland’s training camp in Saipan and becoming the nation’s biggest talking point.
The film is directed by Lisa Barros D’Sa and Glenn Leyburn, who previously brought audiences Good Vibrations, a biopic about Belfast music figure Terri Hooley, and Ordinary Love, starring Liam Neeson and Lesley Manville.
It’s one of several projects being supported by Screen Ireland, the state development agency for the industry, which has launched its new production slate for 2025 across film, animation and TV.
Hardwicke, who plays Keane, recently completed filming Saipan on location in Ireland.
“He’s a huge figure, coming from Cork,” says the actor. “He really was, I would say, one of the defining figures of my childhood. Some of my earliest memories are of Roy and seeing him in the green jersey, and seeing him on the TV playing for United. There was just such pride - not only an incredible footballer, but one of the most influential footballers of his generation, in terms of how he impacted the game and how the game has changed, almost around him. That was such a source of pride coming from Cork.”
The 28-year-old Glanmire actor says some of his are of the 2002 World Cup, when he was just five years old. "Not quite knowing what was going on, but knowing that something had gone down, and it being kind of a national event. It felt full circle in a weird way, because they are some of my earliest memories - so to then step back into it and get to know it as an adult with what I know now. To see it from Roy's point of view, and to embody and play that was really surreal and a lot of fun."
Hardwicke is happy that the backroom team captured the essence of the Cork footballer and others involved in those fraught times.
“The script that Paul Fraser wrote, I felt like he captured the dialogue. He captured those characters. And then Glenn and Lisa, who are just extraordinary directors, took it in their vision.”
Hardwicke adds that the funding and support from Screen Ireland has helped Irish actors and filmmakers broaden the variety of stories they tell.
“Nearly every film I've done in this country has been backed by Screen Ireland, and I made my first short with them [Twain] as well. I think what's exciting in the last couple of years, looking at Kneecap, looking at Saipan, the kind of genres and tonally, the films that we make and that Screen Ireland are backing are only broadening.”
Hardwicke is currently filming his next project, No Ordinary Heist, on location in Dublin and Belfast.
Saipan is one of several new Irish films set to arrive on our screens in 2024, further bolstering Ireland’s growing reputation as a major force in cinema internationally.
They include Re-creation, Jim Sheridan’s drama that revolves around a fictitious trial in which a jury must decide whether British journalist Ian Bailey is guilty of the murder of French filmmaker Sophie Toscan Du Plantier in 1996. The cast includes Colm Meaney, Aidan Gillen and in-demand European actress Vicky Krieps (Phantom Thread).
Filmmaker John Carney follows his previous music-themed films such as Once and Sing Street with Power Ballad. The movie revolves around a wedding singer, a rock star and the song that comes between them. The cast includes Paul Rudd, Nick Jonas, Peter McDonald and Marcella Plunkett.
Directed by David Gleeson (Don’t Go) and starring Colin Morgan, Calam Lynch and Clare Crichton, One Night Only was shot on location in Limerick and is described as both a tribute to the cinema-going experience and the power of community. The movie is set in a cinema over one dramatic night in a town in 1980s Ireland.
Funded through the Cine4 scheme through Screen Ireland, TG4 and Coimisiún na Meán, Báite stars Eleanor O’Brien and Moe Dunford. It centres around the aftermath of the discovery of a woman’s body in a lake, as a detective sergeant is sent to investigate. Báite is the latest film in the Irish language to be backed by Cine4 - previous schemes it supported include the Oscar-nominated An Cailín Ciúin.
Shot on location in Kerry, Dublin and Wicklow, 500 Miles stars Bill Nighy, Roman Griffin Davis (Jojo Rabbit) and Clare Dunne. The drama tells the story of a broken family who must come together when their two young boys run away from home.
Ardal O’Hanlon, Amy Huberman and Darragh Humphrey are among the cast of Fran The Man, director Stephen Bradley’s feature set around the FAI Cup. When assistant manager Fran Costello learns that some of his players have taken a bribe to fix the match, he realises it’s time to unleash his inner detective.
Written and directed by Lance Daly - who previously brought audiences Famine-set revenge thriller Black ’47 - Trad is set in the Donegal Gaeltacht. There, a gifted young fiddle player and her little brother take to the road with a bohemian troupe of musicians as they aim to rediscover the music passed down through generations. Cast includes Megan Nic Fhionnghaile, Aidan Gillen, Sarah Greene and Peter Coonan.
Acclaimed indie filmmaker Jim Jarmusch filmed on location in Dublin - with an impressive cast that includes Cate Blanchett, Adam Driver and Tom Waits - for his forthcoming film. Father, Mother, Sister, Brother centres around a number of siblings who are forced to confront unresolved tensions when they are reunited after years apart.
Sligo and Leitrim are the locations for the forthcoming comedy drama Horseshoe, starring Carolyn Bracken (The Gone). It tells the story of four estranged adult children who gather at their family home following a bereavement.
Screen Ireland’s production slate for 2025 also includes several animated projects. Among the many forthcoming animated series is Season 3 of Cartoon Saloon’s hit series Puffin Rock.
Total production spend generated by the Irish screen industry in 2024 is valued at over €430 mil-lion, representing a 33% increase on 2023 figures.
Feature documentaries coming our way including Have You Never Heard of Bill Fuller? the story of the Kerry music promoter who made waves in 1950s America. Blue Road: The Edna O’Brien Story recalls the author's life and includes an interview with O’Brien prior to her death last year. It opens in cinemas next weekend.
The state agency is also backing a number of TV shows for 2025 including Faithless Season 2, starring Baz Ashmawy, the forthcoming romantic drama Mix Tape, starring Jim Sturgess and Teresa Palmer, and Showkids, a forthcoming series revolving around a drama school.
Cork-born actress Máiréad Tyers, known for her work on the hit Disney+ series Extraordinary, will join the cast of Irish series Obituary for its second season.
