Steve Coogan has been cast as Mick McCarthy in Saipan, a new Irish film about the events leading up Ireland’s 2002 World Cup campaign.
Ireland’s captain Roy Keane was dramatically sent home from the 2002 World Cup when the team was preparing in Saipan following a public quarrel with manager Mick McCarthy. The incident divided public opinion in Ireland about who was to blame.
Two-time Oscar nominee Coogan (Philomena, Stan & Ollie) will play Ireland manager McCarthy in the feature film which is going into production this summer.
Meanwhile, BAFTA nominee Éanna Hardwicke (The Sixth Commandment, Lakelands) will play Ireland captain Roy Keane.
Filmmakers Lisa Barros D’Sa and Glenn Leyburn (Good Vibrations, Ordinary Love) will direct from a script by Paul Fraser (Heartlands, A Room For Romeo Brass).
Barros D’Sa and Leyburn said: “We’re thrilled to be working with this extraordinary cast and creative team to tell the story of an infamous moment in Irish and football history that drew battle lines across a nation, cast its hopes, dreams and sense of identity into disarray, and briefly made a tiny volcanic island in the Pacific one of the most famous places on earth.”
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, Bobby Sands: 66 Days).
Patrick O’Neill, Eoin Egan, and Rachael O’Kane will serve as executive producers.
Producers Kelleher and Keville said: “A million words have been written about what happened on that fateful week in 2002 on the tiny island of Saipan.
“Next year audiences will finally get to experience first-hand the feud between Roy Keane and Mick McCarthy and why it was labelled ‘the worst preparation for a World Cup campaign ever’.
“We are so excited to have Lisa Barros D’Sa and Glenn Leyburn direct this iconic story with our equally iconic cast.”
Saipan will be made in association with Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland and Northern Ireland Screen, with a shoot set for Ireland and Saipan later this summer.
Wildcard and Vertigo Releasing have acquired UK and Ireland rights on the film which is set for release in cinemas in summer 2025.