Pierce Brosnan and Helena Bonham Carter to film new movie in Belfast

Hollywood star Pierce Brosnan and BAFTA winner Helena Bonham Carter are set to film a new romantic blockbuster in Northern Ireland.

Award-winning filmmaker Polly Steele will direct the ‘magical, lyrical and deeply romantic’ Irish story Four Letters of Love based on Niall Williams' international bestselling novel.

Brosnan, Bonham Carter and Golden Globe winner Gabriel Byrne star as parents of fated lovers played by up-and-coming actors Fionn O’Shea and Ann Skelly.

Four Letters of Love is a Genesius Pictures, AX1 Films and Port Pictures production and will be produced by BAFTA Award nominee Debbie Gray and Douglas Cummins and is co-produced by Martina Niland.

With funding from Northern Ireland Screen, the film will start shooting in February in Northern Ireland before moving to the Republic of Ireland.

Cornerstone’s Alison Thompson and Mark Gooder commented: “Irish story-telling is riding a wave of success in the international marketplace, and we’re delighted to bring this beautiful romantic modern classic to the EFM for buyers to enjoy”.

Williams’ novel was first published in 1997 and was translated into more than 30 languages before he adapted it for the screen.

A description of the film reads: "Nicholas Coughlan (O’Shea) and Isabel Gore (Skelly) are fated to be together. That is as sure as the sky is blue and the sea is ever-changing. The question is whether or not they will ever find out.

"As ghosts, fate and the sheer power of true love pull Nicholas and Isabel together, so too does life threaten to tear them apart.

"One sunny winter morning, Nicholas’ father, William (Brosnan), believes he’s spoken to by God, changing his life forever. He quits his job and, following divine instruction, redirects all his passion and energy into painting, leaving his dependent wife, Bette, and son to fend for themselves.

"Isabel lives a charmed, simple existence on the island, with her father (Byrne), the poet and master of the school, and her wise, intuitive mother (Bonham Carter), until the tragic day her younger brother, Sean, a musical genius, has a paralysing fit while he accompanies her dancing."

Producer Debbie Gray said: “I’m thrilled to be bringing this beautiful piece of work from writer Niall Williams and director Polly Steele to the screen."