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Principal photography will commence in early July in Belfast.

Liam Neeson (Schindler’s List) and Lesley Manville (Phantom Thread) are to star in Normal People, a Northern Ireland-set love story based on a script from Irish playwright Owen McCafferty.

Principal photography on the film will start on location in Belfast in early July.

Normal People will be directed by Lisa Barros D’Sa and Glenn Leyburn, who helmed another recent Northern Ireland pic, the punk rock record store feature Good Vibrations.

Produced by Canderblinks Films and Out Of Orbit, CAA arranged financing for the project and is representing domestic distribution rights,...

Academy Award nominees Liam Neeson and Lesley Manville are set to headline romantic drama “Normal People.” Bankside Films, which is handling international sales and will be pitching the project to buyers at Cannes next month, describes the Ireland-set film as “a story of love, survival and the epic questions life throws at each and every one of us.”

Neeson and Manville star as Tom and Joan, a married couple with an easy relationship and a depth of love which expresses itself through tenderness and humor. When Joan is diagnosed with breast cancer, the course of her treatment shines a light on their relationship as the pair face the challenges that lie ahead and the prospect of what might happen in the future. The film is scheduled to begin shooting in early July on location in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Manville joins the production hot off her Oscar and BAFTA nominations for...

Exclusive: In what is sure to be one of the prestige titles on sale at Cannes next month, I can reveal that screen heavyweights Liam Neeson and Lesley Manville are to star in upcoming love story Normal People, which is due to get underway in early July on location in Belfast, Northern Ireland. CAA, which packaged the movie, reps domestic distribution, with Bankside Films on board for international sales.

This is one of the buzziest projects of its type from this side of the pond ahead of the Cannes Marché and it features two meaty acting roles which have been flagged by those in the know as potential awards contenders. The project represents an on-screen return to his homeland for Schindler’s List and Michael Collins star Neeson but also to more sensitive drama climes after a lengthy spell of pitting his wits against terrorists and renegades in a slew of often lucrative action movies.

Liam Neeson has been cast in the forthcoming romantic drama, Normal People. After making a name for himself in films such as Steven Spielberg’s 1993 World War II piece, Schindler’s List, Neeson appeared in several big-budget franchise movies including Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace and Batman Begins, playing Qui-Gon Jinn and Ra’s al-Ghul, respectively. More recent years have seen the Irish actor earn a reputation for tough guy secret agent-style roles, thanks to his starring turn in the Taken series, Run All Night, Non-Stop, and The Commuter.