Once Upon a Time in a Cinema (2026)
Written and directed by David Gleeson
Written and directed by David Gleeson
- Project Type
- Feature film
- Title
- Once Upon a Time in a Cinema (2026)
- Release Date
- 2026
- Irish Partner
- Wide Eye Media
- Co-Partners
- Irish partner: Wide Eye Media
- Tossell Pictures, Germany
- Umedia, Belgium
- Funding Strand
- European Co-development
- Year Funded
- 2022
Drama exploring community, courage, and resilience during crisis inspired by writer-director David Gleeson’s childhood memories of growing up in rural Ireland.
Funded by Creative Europe MEDIA's European Co-development funding 2022.
Written and directed by David Gleeson (Tolkien, Don't Go, The Front Line, Cowboys & Angels), Once Upon a Time in a Cinema stars Colin Morgan, Calam Lynch, Stanley Townsend, India Mullen, Clara Crichton, and Niamh Cusack.
Produced by Nathalie Lichtenthaeler and Judy Tossell.
Once Upon a Time in a Cinema is a European co-production, co-funded by European Co-development, from Ireland's Wide Eye Films, Germany's Tossell Pictures, and Belgium's Umedia. Backed by Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland and the Los Angeles-based Myriad Pictures.
Colin Morgan (Belfast, Merlin) stars as Earl Clancy, the manager of a small-town cinema who is dealing with a Friday night from hell while contemplating the sale of his cinema to a shady politician. Shot on location in Limerick city and in the former Royal Cinema in Limerick.
Once Upon a Time in a Cinema will be released in Ireland on Friday, 1 May, 2026.