Lance Daly’s epic thriller set against the Great Hunger, Black ’47, hit a major landmark last night, passing the €1 million mark at the Irish Box Office.
Not only is the film the top grossing Irish film of the year, it is also the first Irish film to pass the €1 million mark since The Young Offenders in 2016, which was also released by Wildcard Distribution. Black ’47 now joins the ranks of other classic Irish films like The Wind That Shakes The Barley, Michael Collins and The Guard in passing this Irish Box Office milestone. The film achieved two more box office feats, posting the highest opening weekend for an Irish film in Ireland since John Crowley’s Oscar-nominated Brooklyn in 2015, and also becoming the first Irish film to chart at number 1 since Brooklyn, a gap of 1030 days.
We are delighted that Irish audiences have responded to the film and are supporting it in such overwhelming numbers. It’s a great achievement for any film to cross the €1 million mark and take its place alongside films like Michael Collins and Brooklyn.
Macdara Kelleher, Producer – Fastnet Films
Black ’47 is heading into its 3rd week of release and is still showing in cinemas across the country this weekend. It is set for a cinema release in the UK and US later this month. To find out where it’s playing in Ireland and book tickets see black47film.com.
Black ’47 is set during the Great Irish Famine and stars Hugo Weaving (Hacksaw Ridge, The Lord of the Rings, The Matrix), Jim Broadbent (Oscar®winner for Iris) and the prolific Irish screen and stage actor Stephen Rea (The Crying Game, Michael Collins). Joining them are rising international actors James Frecheville (Animal Kingdom, The Drop) and Freddie Fox (King Arthur: Legend of the Sword) along with a strong young Irish cast including Barry Keoghan (Dunkirk, The Killing of a Sacred Deer), Moe Dunford (Michael Inside, Patrick’s Day) and Sarah Greene (Noble, Penny Dreadful).
It’s 1847 and Ireland is in the grip of the Great Famine that has ravaged the country for two long years. Feeney, a hardened Irish Ranger who has been fighting for the British Army abroad, abandons his post to return home and reunite with his family. He’s seen more than his share of horrors, but nothing prepares him for the famine’s hopeless destruction of his homeland that has brutalised his people and where there seems to be no law and order. He discovers his mother starved to death and his brother hanged by the brutal hand of the English. With little else to live for, he sets a destructive path to avenge his family.
The screenplay was written by PJ Dillon (Rewind), Pierce Ryan (Standby), Eugene O’Brien (Eden) and Lance Daly (Life’s a Breeze, Kisses). Produced by Macdara Kelleher for Fastnet Films with Tim O’Hair, Arcadiy Golubovich and Jonathan Loughran, Black ’47 was financed by Primemeridian Entertainment, the Irish Film Board, the Luxembourg Film Fund, Wildcard Distribution, Altitude, BAI, TV3, Eurimages, Umedia, Samsa Films and Fastnet Films.
Altitude Films will distribute Black ’47 in UK cinemas and IFC Films will distribute in US cinemas from September 28th.