Ardal O’Hanlon leads Irish feature ‘Fran The Man’ adapted from football mockumentary series (exclusive)

Production will wrap this week in Dublin on Fran The Man, a feature adaptation of football mockumentary series Fran.

Darragh Humphreys reprises his role as Fran Costello, assistant manager of Irish football minnows St Peter’s Celtic, who are drawn to play titans Shamrock Rovers in the first round of the Football Association of Ireland Cup. Costello must work undercover to save the beautiful game from match-fixing.

Father Ted star Ardal O’Hanlon leads the new cast members, alongside Amy Huberman, Risteard Cooper, Toni O’Rourke and Deidre O’Kane. Screen can reveal a first look at the film, above. Production began on March 4; the four-week shoot wraps on Friday, March 29.

The film is directed by Stephen Bradley and written by Richie Conroy. It is produced by 2023 Screen Rising Star Ireland Collie McCarthy for his Forty Foot Pictures, with support from Screen Ireland and RTE.

Executive producers are Paul Grindey and Charles Moore for Viewfinder Film, Greg Martin for Screen Ireland, Richie Conroy, Jakub Brecka and Gregory Pepin.

“We have assembled an inspiring cast and crew and their energy will be up on screen in the form of loads of laughs and a whole lot of heart,” said Bradley.

“The script is a gem and it’s been a joy to see this incredibly talented cast and crew bring it to life,” added McCarthy.

Mockumentary series Fran aired on Setanta Sports and TV3 from 2009-2011. McCarthy previously produced Screen Star of Tomorrow Eddie Stenberg’s debut feature I Used To Be Famous in 2022, which hit the top 10 in 68 countries on its opening week on Netflix.

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