Saipan – Steve Coogan to star as Mick McCarthy and Éanna Hardwicke as Roy Keane in new feature film

Steve Coogan. Photo Credit: Thomas Laisne

Saipan, a new film about the events leading up to Ireland’s incendiary 2002 World Cup campaign, will go into production this summer. BAFTA-nominated Cork native Éanna Hardwicke (Lakelands, The Sixth Commandment) will play Ireland football captain Roy Keane, with two-time Oscar nominee Steve Coogan (Philomena, The Reckoning) cast as the Ireland manager Mick McCarthy.

The Saipan incident was a very public spat in May 2002 between the then Republic of Ireland national football team captain Roy Keane and manager Mick McCarthy when the team was preparing in Saipan, Japan for its 2002 FIFA World Cup. It resulted in Keane being sent home from the squad. The incident divided public opinion in Ireland and rumbles on to this day.

Award Winning filmmakers Lisa Barros D’Sa and Glenn Leyburn (Good Vibrations, Ordinary Love) are set to direct from an original script by Paul Fraser (Heartlands, A Room For Romeo Brass).

Wildcard and Vertigo Releasing have acquired UK and Ireland rights on the film, and are scheduling a theatrical release for Summer 2025.

Éanna Hardwicke. Photo Credit: Madeline Mulqueen

Saipan will be made in association with Screen Ireland and Northern Ireland Screen, with a shoot set for Ireland and Saipan later this summer. Greg Martin is Executive Producer for Screen Ireland, with Ursula Devine Executive Producer for Northern Ireland Screen.

Producers Macdara Kelleher and John 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.”

Directors Lisa Barros D’Sa and Glenn 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.”

Distributors Wildcard and Vertigo Releasing said “Vertigo Releasing and Wildcard are delighted to be partnering on Saipan, which is set to be a major theatrical release in UK and Ireland in Summer 2025. 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.”

Saipan is currently scheduled for release in Summer 2025.