Steve Coogan will play McCarthy, with Éanna Hardwicke as Keane

Steve Coogan, credit Thomas Laisne & Eanna Harwicke, credit Madeline Musqueen

Roy Keane and Mick McCarthy’s infamous bust-up at the 2002 World Cup will be the focus of a new film, Saipan.

The build up to the spat, which resulted in Keane being sent home from the competition, and the event itself, will be the subject of the film, which will be directed by Lisa Barros D’Sa and Glenn Leyburn (Good Vibrations, Ordinary Love). Paul Fraser (Heartlands, A Room For Romeo Brass) has written an original script for it.

Éanna Hardwicke (Lakelands, The Sixth Commandment) will play Keane, with Steve Coogan (Philomena, The Reckoning) as McCarthy. 

Wildcard and Vertigo Releasing have acquired the UK and Ireland distribution rights for the feature, with a theatrical release expected in summer 2025.

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.”

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.”

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.”

Images: Coogan, Thomas Laisne; Harwicke, Madeline Mulqueen