Free Fire, the new crime thriller which stars Irish actors Cillian Murphy and Jack Reynor opposite Room Oscar winner Brie Larson, has been selected as the closing night gala for this year's London Film Festival.
It is the second year in a row that a film starring Irish actors has received its European premiere on the closing night of the festival. In 2015, the Michael Fassbender-starring Steve Jobs closed the festival.
Free Fire, which is directed and co-written by High-Rise and Kill List director Ben Wheatley, also stars Patrick Bergin and Belfast actor Michael Smiley. It is set in Boston in 1978 and has been compared to the films of Martin Scorsese and Sam Peckinpah.
The film tells the story of Justine (Larson), who brokers an ill-fated arms deal involving two Irishmen (Murphy and Smiley) and two gang members (District 9's Sharlto Copley and The Social Network's Armie Hammer) in a warehouse. Finger-pointing is the least of their worries.
Last year, Free Fire was the subject of a bidding war at the American Film Market, the annual event in Santa Monica, California where new productions are financed and sold. It will be released in Irish cinemas next year.
