Irish director Declan Lowney has spoken exclusively to IFTN of his “delight” in being asked to direct the much-anticipated Alan Partridge movie.
Based on British comedian Steve Coogan’s cult TV chat show host, the currently titled ‘The Alan Partridge Movie’ will see Lowney direct a script written by Armando Iannucci (The Thick of It), Coogan, Peter Baynham (Bruno, Borat) and Rob and Neil Gibbons (Scoop). The film is due to shoot in the UK this autumn for a 2013 release.
Lowney, who is in post-production on Chris O’Dowd’s ‘Moone Boy’ in Co. Roscommon and is best known as the director of ‘Father Ted’, told IFTN: “It’s great news. I wasn’t sure when Armando (Iannucci) was going to release the news but thankfully it seems that everyone’s schedules have fallen into place in the last few days, and the last of the money is now in place. It’s fantastic. I’m a huge fan of Partridge so it’s a great project to be offered.
“I’ve worked with Steve (Coogan) a number of times in the past. We did this movie ‘Cruise of The Gods’ a few years ago, which everyone who has seen it acknowledges as a hugely ignored piece. That was about 10 years ago. More recently I’ve been doing ‘Moone Boy’, Chris O’Dowd’s show, which Coogan’s company Baby Cow co-produced and Steve is actually in one of the episodes. So that was our most recent collaboration.”
Asked as to the details of the Partridge script, Lowney was keeping tight-lipped. He said: “As Armando I think has said, the script is written but they are constantly rewriting and rewriting. It does seem to involve Alan getting caught up in something, as is his making.”
‘The Alan Partridge Movie’ will be produced by British independent producer Kevin Loader for BBC Films and will shoot in the autumn. Iannucci will take an executive producer credit on the feature film. Coogan will take the lead with casting for other roles to be made in the coming months.
Coogan most recently revisited the character for ‘Mid Morning Matters with Alan Partridge’. A second series of the online show is due later this year.
