Just as we all got excited about Cardboard Gangsters coming back to Netflix after years away, some more good news: John Connors is going to be in a new film for the first time since 2017.
In fact, he'll be in two new movies. He's the London bus of Irish cinema: you wait four years for an appearance and then two come along at once.
First, he'll be in Broken Law, a new gangster movie from director Paddy Slattery, which will feature Connors alongside fellow Cardboard Gangsters stars Fionn Walton, Kierston Wareing and Gemma-Leah Devereux.
"Over the last 10 years I would have told you that nothing, not even a global pandemic, could stop me from making this film and bringing it to cinema," said Slattery, who is directing his first feature film. "Well, I guess this is why they say you should never tempt fate."
"But bringing a film to the big screen has been a dream of mine for so many years, so it feels surreal knowing that this dream will become a reality very soon."
"Of course this pandemic has forced us to put our plans on ice for now, but it has also reminded us of how important the cinema-going experience is, thereby making our journey from script to screen all the more meaningful. We're extremely proud of our film and cannot wait to share it with audiences when cinemas finally re-open."
Quick on the back of Broken Law, Connors will star in a new Troubles drama, alongside former Derry boxer John Duddy and Kathy Kiera Clarke, aka Aunt Sarah from Derry Girls.
It will be directed by Tyrone-born novelist Colin Broderick, who drew heavily on his childhood in Northern Ireland in the 70s and 80s, with Duddy playing a writer called Matt Donnelly who returns to Ireland after years in America.
"A Bend in the River is my attempt to finally come to terms with a childhood tainted by the residue of war," said Broderick. "It is my love poem to Northern Ireland."
"The writer Matt Donnelly is the physical embodiment of the North of Ireland. He returns to confront the ghosts of his past: the violence, the confusion, the heartache."
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"Like the place itself, he emerges from it all, reborn. Ultimately, A Bend in the River is a movie about the power of forgiveness."
Featured Image Credit:Topics: Ireland