The Phantom Of The Open

Source: Nick Wall

The Phantom Of The Open

SPC acquires has picked up all rights in North America, Thailand, France, and China to UK underdog golf drama The Phantom Of The Open starring Mark Rylance, Sally Hawkins, and Rhys Ifans.

Craig Roberts directed from Simon Farnaby’s (Paddington 2) adapted screenplay of the book he co-wrote with The Guardian sports writer and author Scott Murray.

The Phantom Of The Open follows Maurice Flitcroft (Rylance), a dreamer and eternal optimist who played in the qualifying rounds for The British Open golf championship in 1976 and went on to shoot the worst round in Open history.

Kate Glover, Nichola Martin, and Tom Miller produced the film from Water & Power Productions and Baby Cow Productions. Executive producers are Christine Langan and James Swarbrick with Cornerstone Films’ Alison Thompson and Mark Gooder, Ingenious Media’s Peter Touche and Christelle Conan, Mary Burke for the BFI, and BBC Film’s Rose Garnett and Emma Duffy. 

The Phantom Of The Open was developed by the BFI, awarding funds from the National Lottery and BBC Film. Funding came from the BFI, BBC Film, and Ingenious Media.

SPC worked with Hawkins on Maudie and Blue Jasmine. Hawkins starred in Roberts’s 2019 directorial debut Eternal Beauty and also starred alongside him in Richard Ayoade’s 2010 coming-of-age tale Submarine.

Cornerstone brokered the deal with SPC on behalf of the filmmakers.

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