“X-Men: First Class star Michael Fassbender is set to star in a biopic about Irish rap group Kneecap.
As Variety exclusively confirmed in May, the feature film – eponymously named “Kneecap” after the band – is being billed as a raucous anti-establishment comedy.
“Kneecap stars real-life band members Mo Chara, Móglaí Bap and DJ Próvaí as exaggerated versions of themselves. The group rose to fame in 2018 for their blend of nationalist Irish rap, which often dealt with the gritty realities of growing up in Northern Ireland after the civil conflict known as the Troubles.
In 2019, they were reportedly condemned for “outrageous behaviour” after leading chants of “Get the Brits out now” at a pub that Prince William and his wife Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge, had visited a day earlier.
The film is written and directed by One Rogue Reporter helmer Rich Peppiatt, who also directed a music video for the band.
“For those who already know Kneecap as musicians, I promise this will be a film true to their hedonistic and anarchic soul. And for those who haven’t heard of Kneecap, well, buckle up,” Peppiatt told Variety in May.
The project is a co-production between Mother Tongues Films and Fine Point Films, with Mother Tongues’ Jack Tarling and Fine Point’s Trevor Birney producing. Wildcard’s Patrick O’Neill is a co-producer. The project is also funded by the BFI (via National Lottery funding), Screen Ireland, Coimisiún na Meán, TG4 and Northern Ireland Screen in association with Great Point Media and Curzon.
French sales agent Charades is handling international sales; Curzon and Wildcard are handling UK and Irish sales.
Sales will begin at AFM.
Fassbender was cast before the SAG-AFTRA strike.
