Latest news with #PhoenixCinema
Irish Examiner
24-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Examiner
Netflix reveals first image of Cillian Murphy in new film, Steve
Netflix has released the first image of Cillian Murphy in his forthcoming film, Steve. The 49-year-old Cork actor stars in the title role of a movie adapted from the novella Shy, by Max Porter. The released image shows a bearded Murphy leaning against a blackboard in a scene from the film which follows the titular headteacher at a reform school during a pivotal day in his life. Due for a limited cinema release in September, before appearing on Netflix from October 3, the impressive cast also includes Tracey Ullman and Emily Watson, as well as Simbi Ajikawo (better known as London rapper Little Simz). Murphy has had a strong association with British novelist Porter in recent years, having first appeared in a stage adaptation of his breakthrough novel Grief Is The Thing With Feathers in 2018, and also collaborating with him on short film All of This Unreal Time. Max Porter and Cillian Murphy at Triskel in Cork in 2023 for the Sounds From a Safe Harbour festival. Picture: Brid O'Donovan Both men are also listed as producers on Steve, and have signed up Tim Mielants to helm the film. Murphy first encountered the Belgian director while working on Peaky Blinders, and also enlisted him to direct the adaptation of Small Things Like These (2024). The release of the film in September ensures a busy month for Murphy and Porter as both are also involved in Cork festival Sounds From A Safe Harbour (Sept 11-14). The Oppenheimer star and his artist wife, Yvonne McGuinness, also recently revealed their plans to refurbish the Phoenix Cinema in Dingle, and turn it into an arts centre. Murphy has also been involved in the 28 Years Later trilogy of sequels with Danny Boyle, the director of 28 Days Later, the 2002 film that gave the Cork actor his international film break. While Murphy doesn't appear in the first of the trio of new films, he is expected to have a prominent role in the next instalment of the franchise, due in 2026.
Irish Examiner
23-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Examiner
Cillian Murphy and Yvonne McGuinness to return Kerry cinema to local community
Actor Cillian Murphy and his wife Yvonne McGuinness plan to return one of the last family-run cinemas in the country back to a 'repurposed' version of its former glory. However, Ms McGuinness told local residents at the first of three public meetings at Dingle's Phoenix Cinema that it won't play host to regular viewing of films like Mr Murphy's blockbuster, Oppenheimer. Although it will host mainstream films at times, Yvonne McGuinness said: "We are not going to accommodate everyone. "Oppenheimer is going to the multiplexes. They won't give it to us unless we screen it three or four times a day and that's not going to happen.' Arts centre plan for Phoenix Cinema The artist said the couple want to reopen the venue as a not-for-profit arts centre, hosting films, concerts, and a range of community events and workshops and 'flexible spaces'. At the Dykegate St venue, she said it will take the couple about three years to repurpose the cinema. They will fund the work themselves as regeneration funding applications in partnership with Kerry County Council work their way through the system. She said: 'We really want to make this work. Cillian and myself are only custodians of the Phoenix. 'Our job is to journey through a new phase to it becoming a not-for-profit arts centre. "It's not about us. It's about protecting a small part of Irish cultural history. These cinema buildings with their iconic frontages were the first cultural infrastructure in Ireland. Like train stations, they were in every town, but instead, these places transported people in creative ways. 'Most of them are disappearing or have been repurposed and we felt compelled to save the Phoenix, because these buildings are part of our cultural identity.' The couple confirmed the purchase of the iconic cinema last November. At the time, Ms McGuinness said the couple planned to increase the venue's 'creative potential'. They bought it after a three-year campaign was launched by locals to save it after Michael O'Sullivan, who had bought it in 1978 and reopened it two years later, shut its doors during the pandemic, in November 2021. He cited, among other reasons, rising costs and falling attendances. Centre could bring new life to Dingle Ms McGuinness also said the couple and their team, including architect Andrew Clancy, see their project as an opportunity to bring life to the town centre of Dingle. 'There could be something that this building does that's bigger than the picture house alone, that's bigger than the cinema,' she said. 'There could be days in the summer where every single part of this building is open and that people can walk through it. "There could be days in the winter where the whole thing is allowing some closed sessions, some conference for people to happen, or artists to gather and exhibit work together. 'There could be times when the cinema is active all the time for films and there could be weeks where it's quite relaxed and it's allowing other things to happen.' History of concerts and dances As well as a cinema, it has also operated as a concert venue and dance hall, playing host to legends such as guitarist Rory Gallagher, since it was opened in 1919. It has also played host to the Dingle International Film Festival, where — in 2010 — Mr Murphy introduced his new film at the time, Perrier's Bounty. Other guests at the festival, held annually in March between 2007 and 2019, included actors Gabriel Byrne, Laura Dern, Aidan Gillen, Sarah Miles, Barry Keoghan, Maureen O Hara, Jack Reynor, and Saoirse Ronan. As well as seeing films at the cinema with his own children, Mr Murphy watched films there as a youth, as did his own father before him.
