While his brother Martin McDonagh is gearing up for a wide release of his very funny dark comedy Seven Psychopaths, John Michael McDonagh is kicking off production on his follow-up to The Guard. Bringing back his star Brendan Gleeson, Calvary also stars Bridesmaids supporter Chris O’Dowd, The Wire‘s Aidan Gillen, True Grit and Anna Karenina‘s Domhnall Gleeson, as well as Kelly Reilly, Dylan Moran, Marie Josée Crozé, Isaach De Bankolé, Pat Shortt and David Wilmot.
With shooting beginning in Co. Sligo, Ireland, we’ve already got the first still thanks to a press release. Above one can see Gleeson as a priest, described as “a good man intent on making the world a better place, he is continually shocked and saddened by the spiteful and confrontational inhabitants of his small country town. After being threatened during confession, he must battle the dark forces closing in around him.” Check out a comment from McDonagh below as we greatly look forward to his sophomore effort.
“It is with great excitement, bordering on tumescence, that I am looking forward to collaborating once more with Ireland’s greatest actor, Brendan Gleeson, and working with the finest ensemble cast ever assembled in the history of Irish cinema. I would like to thank the Irish Film Board, and the BFI, for their continuing support for filmmaking that seeks to escape from the tiresome, rarefied confines of Dublin 4. Up the West!”
Calvary will hit theaters in 2013.