‘Stones in his Pockets’, the Kerry-set play by Belfast playwright Marie Jones, is set to be adapted for the big screen - starring ‘Game of Thrones’ actor Conleth Hill and ‘Boyzone’ singer Ronan Keating.
Ms Jones will adapt the screenplay and her husband Ian McElhinney will direct, with funding applications lodged to the Irish Film Board and Northern Ireland Screen for principal photography to commence next year.
Mr McElhinney told the Sunday Times that filming will take place in Leitrim and Leslie Hall House in Antrim rather than Kerry for cost reasons, with the budget estimated at €3m.
Antrim actor Conleth Hill - who played one of the two lead roles in the stage version and is best known as Lord Varys in ‘Game of Thrones’ - will reprise his role for the film.
Ms Jones said that she became convinced that Ronan Keating was suited for the other lead part based on the emotion he displayed during his interview with Piers Morgan about the breakdown of his marriage.
The plot of ‘Stones in His Pockets’ follows Jake Quinn (Keating) and Charlie Conlon (Hill), who are employed as extras in a movie being shot in Kerry, when tragedy strikes the set.
Conleth Hill won an Olivier award for Best Actor in 2001 for his stage performance and the play enjoyed a successful run in Ireland, the West End and Broadway.
Ronan Keating’s first film role was in the Australian film ‘Goddess’, as the husband of English singer Laura Michelle Kelly’s character.
