Deadline is reporting that Irish star Colin Farrell is launching a new production company, Chapel Place Productions, and teaming up with former Element Pictures producer Lee Magiday (The Favourite)’s Sleeper Films, and Australian production company Hopscotch Features on an adaptation of Irish writer Dervla McTiernan’s first novel The Ruin.
Set in Galway, The Ruin follows detective Cormac Reilly as he is thrown back into a case from 20 years ago involving two children whose mother died of an overdose. It’s a twisting tale that delves into the dark heart of Ireland, examining police corruption and the abuses of the church through the eyes of Reilly — the kind of cop you’d trust with your life, and follow to hell and back.
Author Dervla McTiernan was born in Ireland and now lives with her family in Australia. Australia’s Hopscotch Features optioned the rights to The Ruin in 2018, after it became a best-seller in Ireland, the UK, and Australia. The sequel, The Scholar, was published in March 2019, with the next novel in the series, The Good Turn, to be published in 2020.
Farrell will run Chapel Place with his sister Claudine. Production on The Ruin is expected to take place in and around Galway city.
We’re thrilled to be bringing Dervla’s page-turning novel to the screen, and we couldn’t have better partners than Lee, Claudine and Colin. We all responded so strongly to the material, which is driven by a richly authentic protagonist – detective Cormac Reilly – and set in the unique beauty of the west coast of Ireland.
Troy Lum, Producer – Hopscotch
I’m excited to be working with Troy and Andrew and teaming up again with Colin and Claudine on such thought-provoking material. The Ruin is a brilliant debut – Dervla has created an atmospheric, resonant and intricately woven story with deeply affecting characters. It offers an intimate and compelling view of Galway, a city driven by its history.
Lee Magiday , Producer – Sleeper Films