EXCLUSIVE: James McArdle (Mare Of Easttown) and Fionnula Flanagan (The Others) have been set to lead the ensemble cast of Four Mothers, an Irish-set adaptation of Gianni di Gregorio’s 2008 festival and box office hit Mid-August Lunch (Pranzo Di Ferragosto).
Filming is underway in Dublin on the comedy feature which heralds from Ida producer Eric Abraham and former Working Title exec Jack Sidey’s Portobello Films and Television (Moffie) and Martina Niland for Port Pictures (Sing Street).
Dearbhla Molloy (Wild Mountain Thyme), Paddy Glynn (Cinderella) and Stella McCusker (Nowhere Special) also star.
Darren Thornton directs and co-wrote the script with his brother, Colin Thornton. They previously collaborated on their IFTA-winning debut A Date For Mad Mary.
Olivier-award nominee McArdle plays a self-sabotaging novelist, saddled with caring for his mother (Flanagan) after a stroke. After his book becomes an overnight hit, his plans for a U.S. promotional tour are thrown into disarray when three more elderly women (played by Molloy, Glynn and McCusker) are deposited on his doorstep.
The film is funded by Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland, The Broadcasting Authority of Ireland, RTÉ, The Irish Tax Credit and the UK’s Portobello Films and Television and The Common Humanity Arts Trust.
Low-budget Italian indie film Mid-August Lunch was a critical and box office breakout back in 2008, taking close to $10M at the box office and playing at festivals including Venice, Berlin, Palm Springs, London and Karlovy Vary.
