BANGOR author Colin Bateman’s silver screen dreams are set to come true with Hollywood A-lister Al Pacino cast in his latest film.
The Godfather star has been cast in the film Killing Castro which has been co-written by the homegrown author and former County Down Spectator deputy editor.
Announcing the Academy Award winning actor’s involvement in his latest project, Colin wrote on social media, “I had a dream. Al Pacino was in one of my films.”
Colin has said that filming is currently underway in New Jersey with a star studded cast including Diego Boneta, KiKi Layne and Xolo Mariduena.
Elf Rivera will direct the film from the script by Colin, Leon Hendrix and Thomas DeGrezia. Killing Castro will be produced by Romulus Entertainment’s Brad Feinstein, along with Christina Weiss Lurie of Fourth and Twenty Eight Films.
It is a fascinating story based on true events – the film is set in 1960 when Fidel Castro travels to New York City to deliver his first speech to the United Nations.
When met with hostility at his original hotel, Castro meets Malcolm X who invites him to stay at the famed Hotel Theresa in Harlem.
With the eyes of the world watching, a rookie undercover FBI agent originally assigned to investigate Malcolm X suddenly becomes the FBI’s most valuable asset and is tasked with keeping Castro from being eliminated by the CIA and Italian mafia by any means necessary.
Colin is no stranger to seeing his work on the silver screen – many of the County Down Spectator staff, including this reporter, were thrilled to perform as extras when filming for Colin’s award winning debut novel ‘Divorcing Jack’ took place in the former newspaper offices.
Since then, Colin’s fictionalised account of the relationship between the late Rev. Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness became the cinema hit The Journey starring Timothy Spall as the former First Minister and Colin Meaney playing McGuinness.
