Starring Mark Wahlberg (The Italian Job) as the antihero New York detective Max Payne, the film stormed the box office with an estimated $18 million on its opening weekend in the US. The story centers on Payne, who is hunting for the murderer of his wife and daughter - whilst on the run from being accused of two murders that he did not commit. Wahlberg stars alongside Mila Kunis (Forgetting Sarah Marshall), Beau Bridges (My Name Is Earl), Chris "Ludacris" Bridges (RocknRolla) and Chris O'Donnell (Batman and Robin). The film is produced by Firm Films/Depth Entertainment from a screenplay by Beau Thorne, and based on the ‘Max Payne’ videogame (published by Rockstar Games).

Max Payne

Born in Dundalk, John studied filmmaking in Dublin and went on to write and direct a series of short films including ‘Jack's Bicycle’, ‘ He Shoots, He Scores’ which lead him to become a commercials director. His visual eye impressed Twentieth Century Fox who offered him his feature directorial debut ‘ Behind Enemy Lines’, centered on the conflict in Bosnia and starring Gene Hackman and Owen Wilson. Moore's next film was ‘ Flight of the Phoenix’ starring Dennis Quaid, which he followed with the remake of the 1976 horror ‘ The Omen’ in 2006.

Speaking to IFTN, John first gives his reaction to his film’s success in the US

IFTN: So John, how did it feel for Max Payne to open at No. 1 in the US Box Office?

JM: I have to say it’s very satisfying. It's something that probably sounds very egotistical but it’s not really. What it feels like is that it’s a slap on the back for all the people who were involved in making the film.

Was there a lot of pressure making the film adaptation of such a successful videogame?

Yes, I mean you can feel the pressure because over 11 million copies of this game were sold worldwide and it’s a very famous video game amongst video games.

It’s a little bit like adapting a book, although people are a little more snobbish when it comes to adapting books - they get a lot more leeway than you do if you try to adapt something quote on quote ‘tacky’ as a video game but of course there is pressure.

At the end of the day I thought there was a good story within this game, which is unusual because games are like hookers, I mean you talk to them for five minutes and then you get on with the bang bang bang!! You know that’s what people want to do. But this game has a genuine story. I think the people that created this game are film lovers, if you look at the game it is very cinematic so it wasn’t like it was a difficult birth - it was a very natural birth that the film came out of. There are a lot of fans and what I hoped to do and, judging from some of the chat-rooms, people seem to enjoy the fact that it’s the next chapter in Max Payne story rather than just the rehash of the game.

Max Payne

Was there a lot of special effects involved in making the film?

I’m not a big visual effects fan and to be quite I honest I think it is a boring way to make movies - standing in front of a green screen with guys on wires. I think from being born out of ‘The Bourne Identity’ films that people love the real stuff. They love to feel like they are in the middle of the action and I think people get bored with visual effects so it’s not the approach we took . We did a lot live stunts and live action and, luckily enough, Mark Walberg is such a physical actor that he has no problem jumping through a plate glass window and taking bullet hits. He can take it. In fact there were times when we had to ask Mark, ‘can one of the stunt men do this – it’ s just too dangerous!’

Is it true that you are currently working on new project ‘Capricorn One’?

I’ve been quoted and misquoted on half a dozen films and in fact the truth is I’m making great attempts to try and make a film in Ireland but I won’t go into it because I’m superstitious about cursing it. What’s likely next for me is a very small film called ‘Gone’ about a mother whose child is kidnapped.

So this would be a change in direction for you from action films?

Yes this would be a big change for me. I think actors get praise for varying their work, for taking different roles, but directors tend to get pigeon holed a little bit. People go “You’re going to do what???”, “You’re going to do a drama?”, “Are you nuts!?” I’m actually enjoying the idea that I’m going to be doing a film that’s purely dramatic.

How you feeling about the release of ‘Max Payne’ in Ireland tomorrow?

I’m looking forward to it. I’m going up to my hometown of Dundalk tomorrow night where we’ve organised a special screening with friends and family, so were going to have a bit of a shindig. To be frank being No 1. in the US really took a lot of pressure off it which allows us to enjoy the rest of what happens.

• 'Max Payne' is released nationwide from 14 November 2008.