'In Bruges' Director Martin McDonagh's New Movie With Colin Farrell And Brendan Gleason Is Filming This Year

You know what they say: if it ain't broke, don't fix it. After Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri garnered plenty of awards attention (not to mention a fair amount of controversy) four years ago, writer/director Martin McDonagh is back with his next project... and he's bringing along some familiar faces, too. Fans of McDonagh's first feature film In Bruges will be especially excited about this one, which was announced early last year, right before the COVID-19 pandemic brought the world to a halt.

According to – who else – the Irish Mirror, McDonagh is officially reuniting with both Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson for a new production that could be titled The Banshees of Inisherin (unless it's not) and will begin filming this August. Farrell and Gleeson previously worked with McDonagh on the dark crime comedy In Bruges, where they showcased an acidic chemistry and a penchant for the filmmaker's stylized, profane dialogue. In other words: this should be one fine reunion.

Set on a remote island in Ireland, the plot of this new film appears to follow Farrell and Gleeson as a pair of longtime friends who experience tension when one of them suddenly decides to "break up" with the other, Seinfeld-style. As you might expect from McDonagh, however, there should be plenty of wry and dark humor (and maybe some violence) to follow.

The Banshees of Inisherin (is that is the title of the film) has a pretty remarkable development history. The genesis of this project actually stretches back over a quarter of a century, as it was initially conceived to be the trilogy-capper of a series of theater plays. But don't worry if you haven't heard of this one before. McDonagh himself is previously quoted as saying that it "isn't any good", and so it remained the lone play of the seven he authored that was never produced.

We can safely assume that he did some work on it before deciding to film it.

I've always been a fan of McDonagh's films, even through Seven Billboards and the undeniably problematic elements at work, and this sounds right up my alley. On the surface, this story reminds me of the darkly humorous tale of friendship amid workplace tension in Robert Eggers' The Lighthouse and I can only imagine how that might be filtered through Mcdonagh's distinctive voice – especially when it seems he's done a complete 180 on the concept in the intervening time. We'll let you know more about this one as we hear it.