Steve Coogan and Éanna Hardwicke become McCarthy and Keane in first Saipan film image

The actors transform into the leading protagonists in the World Cup 2002 drama that transfixed the nation as gets the silver screen treatment with comedy due for release summer 2025 

BLOWING OFF SOME STEAM?: Steve Coogan and Éanna Hardwicke as Mick McCarthy and Roy Keane in the upcoming film Saipan. Pic: Aidan Monaghan

More than 22 years may have passed but many images from the Saipan controversy remain etched into the Irish national conscience. Now we have the Hollywood version to add to the pile. 

A first glimpse of Steve Coogan and Éanna Hardwicke as Mick McCarthy and Roy Keane was offered on Wednesday as a still from the upcoming comedy film Saipan was released. 

Exclusive: First look at Steve Coogan as Mick McCarthy and Éanna Hardwicke as Roy Keane in SAIPAN, about Keane's infamous 2002 World Cup exit. Cannot wait to see this. pic.twitter.com/tKwIetzKQO

— Alex Ritman (@alexritman) October 30, 2024

In the picture McCarthy and Keane are sat beside one another — but not too close — in what looks to be either a steamy dressing room or a plain old steam room. Coogan's take on McCarthy's 2002-era slick-backed silver hair looks a little on the bouffant side but otherwise both actors appear well cast. 

The film, due for release some time next summer, is being directed by Glenn Leyburn and Lisa Barros D’Sa with filming taking place in locations in Louth and Belfast in recent months. 

“On the surface, the feud was all about standards, but deep down it was a hugely emotive story of two men whose rivalry and contempt came to surpass the sport they loved," the film's synopsis reads. "This is the definitive account of one of the most fractious falling-outs in the history of sport.”

Based on an original script by Paul Fraser (Heartlands, A Room for Romeo Brass), 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.