Entertainment One (eOne) have shared the first trailer and poster for The Phantom of the Open which is heading to cinemas “soon” and will make its debut at the London Film Festival next month.
The film tells the true story of Maurice Flitcroft, a crane operator and optimistic dreamer from Barrow-in-Furness who, with the support of his family and friends, managed to gain entry to the 1976 British Open qualifying, despite never playing a round of golf before.
With pluckiness and unwavering self-belief, Maurice pulls off a series of stunning, hilarious and heart-warming attempts to compete at the highest level of professional golf, drawing the ire of the golfing elite but becoming a British folk hero in the process.
Mark Rylance stars as Flitcroft opposite Sally Hawkins as his wife Jean and Rhys Ifans as his nemesis Mackenzie. The film is directed by Craig Roberts from a screenplay by Simon Farnaby (Paddington 2) who adapted his own book, The Phantom of the Open: Maurice Flitcroft, The World’s Worst Golfer, co-written by Scott Murray
Funding came from the BFI, BBC Film and Ingenious Media.