SAIPAN TEASER TRAILER RELEASED
Date Posted: June 23, 2025
STARRING ÉANNA HARDWICKE AND STEVE COOGAN
DIRECTED BY LISA BARROS D’SA & GLENN LEYBURN
Wildcard and Vertigo Releasing are proud to present the teaser trailer for SAIPAN, the eagerly awaited new film about the infamous confrontation between iconic Republic of Ireland football captain Roy Keane (Éanna Hardwicke) and his national team manager Mick McCarthy (Steve Coogan) during the team’s preparations for the 2002 FIFA World Cup.
SAIPAN is made in association with Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland and Northern Ireland Screen. Greg Martin is Executive Producer for Screen Ireland, with Ursula Devine Executive Producer for Northern Ireland Screen. Funding has also been provided from BFI Global Screen, Coimisiún na Meán and RTÉ. Bankside Films are handling worldwide sales.
SAIPAN is the thrilling story of football player Roy Keane and his manager Mick McCarthy, and the events leading up to Ireland’s incendiary 2002 World Cup campaign. The intense rivalry between these two personalities transcended the game, gripping an entire nation and the sporting world. On the surface, the feud was all about standards, but deep down it was a hugely emotive story of two men whose rivalry and contempt came to surpass the sport they loved. This is the definitive account of one of the most fractious fallings-out in the history of sport.
Directed by award-winning filmmakers Lisa Barros D’Sa and Glenn Leyburn (Good Vibrations, Ordinary Love) and based on an original script by Paul Fraser (Heartlands, A Room for Romeo Brass), SAIPAN stars BAFTA nominated Éanna Hardwicke (Lakelands, The Sixth Commandment) as Roy Keane, with two-time Academy Award® nominee Steve Coogan (Philomena, The Reckoning) as Mick McCarthy. Supporting cast include Alice Lowe (Sightseers), Jamie Beamish (Derry Girls), Alex Murphy (The Young Offenders), Harriet Cains (Bridgerton) and Peter McDonald (The Batman).
The film is produced by Macdara Kelleher and John Keville for Wild Atlantic Pictures (Evil Dead Rise, Cocaine Bear, Black 47) along with Trevor Birney and Oliver Butler for Fine Point Films (Kneecap, No Stone Unturned) with Patrick O’Neill and Rachael O’Kane serving as Executive Producers.
SAIPAN is COMING SOON to UK & Irish cinemas
