No plans to show NI-written and directed DeLorean film in Province

Bangor author and screenwriter Colin Bateman hosted two sold-out private screenings of the film at the weekend as part of Open House Festival in the town but no further viewings are planned in NI.

‘Driven’, which stars Jason Sudeikis and Lee Pace, tells the story of the rise and fall of US engineer John DeLorean, who set up a factory in Northern Ireland making the car of the same name which featured in the Back to the Future movies.

The film, which was directed by Nick Hamm, who is also from Northern Ireland, was acclaimed following its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival.

The author – best known for his Dan Starkey and Mystery Man novels – posted to Facebook: “Kind of shocked to report that ‘Driven’, our film about John DeLorean, will not be getting a cinema release here.

“It’ll be out on some screens in England, and available as a digital download everywhere from November 8, but no big screens here in the country where the DeLorean was built.

“Now, I’m an old hand at the movie business and I know how impossible it is right now – if there’s not a superhero in it or a fantasy element it’s hard to get anything in the local Omniplex and everything is migrating to Netflix or one of the other streamers, so it will be seen – but we’re not even getting into somewhere like the QFT in Belfast. Ah well, on to the next one ...”.