IRISH MOVIES 2008

We haven't posted in a while as news was pretty thin on the oul ground there, but 2008 has a wealth of Irish movies and related news on the way...

Hugh O’Conor (right) hopes to put the dreadful Speed Dating behind him with WAITING FOR DUBLIN. In a Chicago nightclub on New Year’s Eve, 1944, a drunken Lt. Mike Clarke (O’ Connor) makes a bet of $1000 with a stranger (Karl Sheils – Capital Letters) that we will become a WWII flying ace by shooting down 5 enemy aircraft. When Mike sobers up, he realises that the stranger’s uncle, the man who witnessed the bet, is none other than Al Capone! Madcap antics enuse. Frank Kelly (Father Ted) and David Wilmot (Studs, Six Shooter) co-star. After that, Hugh will star in Martin Duffy's (The Boy From Mercury) drama SUMMER OF THE FLYING SAUCER.

After playing a hitman in Martin McDonagh’s In Bruges (release date sometime this March) Colin Farrell will star with Ed Norton in PRIDE AND GLORY: A crime drama that sees Ed Norton’s cop investigate a scandal involving his brother-in-law and fellow cop Colin Farrell. Jon Voight co-stars.

Farrell’s co-star in the Belgian black comedy, Brendan Gleason, is to make his directorial debut adapting Flann O’Brien’s 1939 novel AT SWIM TWO BIRDS. Cillian Murphy, Colin Farrell, Sean McGinley and Gabriel Byrne are set to star alongside a who’s who of Irish actors.

Apart from appearing in the upcoming ANTON, Gerard McSorley (left) will team up with his Veronica Guerin director Joel Schumacher to star in the horror thriller TOWN CREEK, which sees two brothers caught in an occult experiment that dates back to the Third Reich.

Liam Neeson will return as the voice of Aslan in THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: PRINCE CASPIAN and take the lead in Pierre Morel’s TAKEN. Neeson plays a spy who relies on his skills to track down his estranged daughter.

The Halo Effect writer/director Lance Daly returns to direct KISSES, which sees two kids spend a horrific night on the streets of Dublin after running away from home. Stephen Rea takes the lead (not as one of the kids of course – our special effects artists just aren’t there yet).

The lovely Nora-Jane Noone (right) and the just as lovely Olga Wehrly (left) will play the eye candy in Brendan Foley’s (The Riddle, Johnny Was) horror BOG BODIES. The plot sees a 2000-year-old murder victim unearthed from a bog and go on a bloodthirsty rampage (as you do). Vinnie Jones stars.

Adam And Paul and Garage scribe Mark O’Halloran will star in Brendan Grant’s TONIGHT IS CANCELLED. O’Halloran plays a film director who wants to make a film about a Slav couple who escaped the war in Kosovo and made it to safety in Ireland. The film was completed last year and it’s unsure whether or not it will see some distribution.

Ciarán Hinds will be a busy man: he will star in Kimberley Pierce’s (Boys Don’t Cry) drama STOP LOSS, team up with Jean Reno in the comedy CASH and lend his voice to the animated adventure THE TALE OF DESPEREAUX.

Song For A Raggy Boy helmer Aisling Walsh (left) will direct Eva Birthistle (Middletown) and Samantha Morton in THE DAISY CHAIN. The plot sees crazy things happen when a couple adopt an autistic child.

I Went Down main man Peter McDonald will star with Iain Glen in the TV series CITY OF VICE.

Colm Meaney wil star in the US version of Life on Mars, but will also star in the thriller CLEAN BREAK, the comedy and the mini series 3 AND OUT and ZOS: ZONE OF SEPARATION.

Aidan ‘Oi loved her’ Quinn will star in the romantic comedy WILD CHILD, the drama THE OFF HOURS and is rumoured to take the lead in the Eric Stoltz-directed comedy PADDYVILLE, which will star Frank McCourt and Domhnall Gleason.