Daisy Edgar-Jones (Twisters, Sense & Sensibility) and Emilia Jones (CODA, Tusk) are set to star in Bad Bridgets, the second feature from director Rich Peppiatt, who won a BAFTA for his acclaimed directorial debut Kneecap.
LuckyChap Entertainment will produce the project, with Peppiatt writing and directing. FilmNation will be participating in the sale and WME Independent will represent the United States in launching the Hot Package at the American Film Market.
The script was inspired by Elaine Farrell and Leanne McCormick’s book Bad Bridget: Crime, Mayhem, and the Lives of Irish Emigrant Women and was developed with support from Queen’s University Belfast. The story follows a mysterious letter that sends a young woman on a perilous journey from starving Ireland to 19th century New York, where she joins the so-called “Bridgets” of Irish men who cause chaos in the city.
The book was optioned by Peppiatt and his “Kneecap” producer Trevor Barney earlier this year, and was also produced by the duo’s 2024 banner Coup de Films.
“Bad Bridgets” is scheduled to film in Northern Ireland and Ireland in spring 2026. Oscar-winning production designer James Price and costume designer Kate Hawley will be on board.
Kneecap, the raucous Irish-language comedy biopic about the Belfast rap trio of the same name, premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the NEXT Audience Award, became one of the festival’s talking points, and was featured in Sony Pictures Classics. Starring the members of the Kneecap Band as themselves, with Michael Fassbender in a supporting role, the film was hailed as one of the year’s best independent features, became the most nominated debut film in BAFTA history (winning Outstanding Debut by a British Film Director), won seven British Independent Film Awards, five IFTA Awards, and won the Breakthrough British/Irish Film Award at the London Critics Circle Awards. The film was submitted by Ireland as a nominee for the 2025 Academy Awards and was shortlisted for International Feature Film.
Peppiatt is repped by WME, Anonymous Content and MMB Creative, Edgar Jones is repped by UTA, B-Side Management, Relevant and Sloane, Offer and Weber, and Jones is repped by CAA, Brillstein Entertainment Partners and Artist Rights Group UK.
