This is likely the first Irish-language movie to be remade by Hollywood.
Originally due for release in early 2020 (but, y’know, covid), the world coming to a bit of a standstill didn’t stop Arracht from becoming something of an Irish success story.
The movie won Best Actor and Best Irish Film at the Dublin International Film Festival in 2020, it picked up the Audience Award at the Glasgow Film Festival, was nominated for no less than THIRTEEN awards at the IFTAs (and brought home two of them), and was Ireland’s pick for Best Foreign Language Movie at the Oscars, before eventually being cut from the ultimate shortlist.
All of this, and the movie still hasn’t actually reached Irish cinemas yet! Thankfully, it will soon enough, and even more good news, as a major Hollywood producer has optioned the rights for an English-language remake.
We’ve done a bit of digging, and unless we’re mistaken, this is the first Irish-language movie to be remade into English.
Oscar-winner Greg Shapiro (The Hurt Locker, Zero Dark Thirty, The Rules of Attraction) will be working on the remake with Smuggler and Kingsgate Films.
Cúán MacConghail, producer of the original film, had this to say about the movie’s impending release and remake: “To have produced a film that moved Greg Shapiro and his team so much, that they wanted to option it is the stuff that dreams are made of. He has produced several of my top ten films of all time. Tom and I are so delighted.”
Arracht, which currently holds a score of 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, tells the story of Colmán Sharkey (Dónall Ó Héalai), a fisherman, a father, a husband, living on the wild shores of Connemara in 1845 as The Great Hunger descends.
As land taxes rise and crops rot, Colmán confronts his landlord and the meeting ends in deadly violence, with Colmán forced to go on the run, now hunted for crimes he did not commit. As the years pass in solitude, Colmán returns to the mainland and encounters a young girl, Kitty (Saise Ní Chuinn) and a life-saving friendship develops.
Arracht is finally due to arrive in Irish cinemas on Friday, 18 October this year.
Clip via Break Out Pictures
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