Fast-rising and BAFTA-nominated Irish star Éanna Hardwicke (“The Sixth Commandment,” “Lakelands”) is set to play Manchester United and Ireland soccer legend Roy Keane in upcoming Irish feature “Saipan,” Variety can reveal. Hardwicke will be joined by two-time Oscar nominee Steve Coogan (“Philomena,” “The Reckoning”), who will star as Mick McCarthy, the former Ireland soccer manager with whom Keane had an infamous falling out.
“Saipan” is being directed by Glenn Leyburn and Lisa Barros D’Sa — the duo behind the critically-lauded 2013 Irish comedy-drama “Good Vibrations” and the 2019 romance “Ordinary Love,” starring Liam Neeson and Lesley Manville — working from an original script by Paul Fraser (“Dead Man’s Shoes”), with production set to start this summer.
The film’s title comes from the infamous so-called “Saipan Incident” in 2002, when Keane was captaining the Irish national side ahead of the FIFA World Cup finals in Japan. While preparing on the tiny island of Saipan, the soccer star — known for his hot-headed temperament on and off the field — had a very public, very bitter disagreement with McCarthy, reportedly furious at the training conditions, strategy, travel arrangements, diet and also McCarthy’s competence.
A subsequent interview with Keane in the Irish press sparked a major fallout at the camp, where the footballer is said to have delivered an angry verbal tirade at McCarthy in front of his teammates, telling him to “stick your World Cup up your arse” before flying back to Ireland (although McCarthy later stated he had sent him home). The incident caused a huge controversy in Irish society over who was to blame and Keane wouldn’t play for his country again until 2004, after McCarthy had stepped down as manager.
“Saipan” — which is described as being about “the events leading up to Ireland’s incendiary 2002 World Cup campaign” — is produced by Macdara Kelleher and John Keville for Wild Atlantic Pictures (“Evil Dead Rise,” “Cocaine Bear”) along with Trevor Birney and Oliver Butler for Fine Point Films (“Kneecap,” “Bobby Sands: 66 Days”) with Patrick O’Neill, Eoin Egan and Rachael O’Kane serving as executive producers.
Wildcard and Vertigo Releasing have acquired U.K. and Ireland rights for the film, and are scheduling a saturation theatrical release for summer 2025. Bankside Films have boarded the feature for worldwide sales, with Stephen Kelliher and Sophie Green as executive producers. “Saipan” will be made in association with Screen Ireland and Northern Ireland Screen, with a shoot set for Ireland and Saipan. Greg Martin is executive producer for Screen Ireland, with Ursula Devine executive producer for Northern Ireland Screen.
“A million words have been written about what happened on that fateful week in 2002 on the tiny island of Saipan,” said producers Kelleher and Keville. “Next year, audiences will finally get to experience firsthand the feud between Roy Keane and Mick McCarthy and why it was labeled ‘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.”
Added the directors: “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.”
Aside from their acting credentials, Hardwicke and Coogan both have significant connections to their characters. Hardwicke hails from Cork, which is also Keane’s birthplace (he’s often considered the city’s “most famous son”). Meanwhile, Coogan’s parents are of Irish descent (his mother was born in County Mayo) and he long considers himself half-Irish, last year receiving an Irish passport. McCarthy, who like Coogan was born in England, had an Irish father and played for the Irish national team at the 1990 soccer World Cup, becoming its manager six years later.
“Vertigo Releasing and Wildcard are delighted to be partnering on ‘Saipan,’ which is set to be a major theatrical release in U.K. and Ireland in summer 2025,” said the distributors. “The events of Saipan divided a nation, but we are sure everyone will be united in their love for this once in a generation Irish film directed by the brilliant filmmaking team of Glenn Leyburn and Lisa Barros D’Sa.”
Coogan is represented by Independent Talent and CAA with Multitude Media handling PR. Hardwicke is represented by Curtis Brown and Susannah Norris Agency with Multitude Media handling PR.