THE FILM has been described as a 'dramatic comedy' but their relationship was anything but.
Northern Ireland Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness and the late Ian Paisley will be the central characters in a new film to be premiered at the Toronto Film Festival this coming September.
The film, which will be called The Journey, will star Colm Meaney as McGuinness while Paisley will be played by Timothy Spall. will centre around a fictional journey the pair make to try put their differences aside.
The plot will centre around a fictional journey the pair make to try put their differences aside.
Here's what else we know so far...
1. Toronto will get to see it first
Any fans eagerly awaiting news as to whether they will see the film soon will be disappointed, there is no reported general release date yet for the film. The film will make it's first appearance at the Toronto Film Festival in September and Venice Film festival in late August/September 2016.
2. The cast has some illustrious names
The leading men Colm Meaney and Timothy Spall will be the talk of this film but elsewhere there are some stellar names in the cast. John Hurt will star in the film alongside Toby Stephens (The Machine) and Freddie Highmore (The Golden Compass).
3. The 'journey' the characters take is fictional
The film is set in the period after the St Andrews Agreement in 2006, which focused on the devolution of powers in Northern Ireland.
4. It's got a Northern Irish director at the helm
Nick Hamm, from Belfast in Northern Ireland, has experience with directing real life stories before and also a vast knowledge across stage, TV and film. The director was behind the film Killing Bono which featured the story of U2 in Dublin growing up as well as films like The Hole and Godsend.
5. And the Northern Irish links don't stop there
The script was penned by screenwriter and novelist, County Down born Colin Bateman, who also penned and created BBC One drama Murphy's Law. Born in 1962, Bateman worked as a journalist in his hometown of Bangor, County Down for over 30 years before writing his first novel, Divorcing Jack, later adapted for film in 1998. He later went on to pen a number of other novels.
