Jim Sheridan writing US update of Into The West

Jim Sheridan is writing an update on his cult Irish fantasy Into The West, with the original film’s producer Tim Palmer also on board. Sheridan is also attached to direct.

The project, currently going under the same name as the 1992 original which starred Gabriel Byrne, Ellen Barkin, Brendan Gleeson and David Kelly and was directed by Mike Newell, will reimagine the earlier film’s themes in a new US setting.

In its most recent round of funding the Irish Film Board granted the project its top development grant of €50,000.

The original follows two young boys who escape the poverty of their Dublin council estate on adventure ‘into the west’ to find a mystical horse recently stolen from them. Byrne played the boys’ father, the once renowned “King of the Travellers.” Producers were Palmer, Alan Moloney’s Parrallel Film and Channel Four Films, with Miramax handling US distribution.

The Oscar-nominated Sheridan’s credits include In The Name Of The Father, My Left Foot and most recently Brothers and Dream House.

Palmer was most recently a co-producer on Michael Radford’s upcoming Spanish Civil War drama The Mule.