Principal photography gets underway from today for Rise of the Footsolider: The Beginning, a prequel to the cult crime thriller, Rise of the Footsoldier, and the third instalment in the smash hit franchise. Starring many of the original cast, including Craig Fairbass (Rise of the Footsoldier, Cliffhanger, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare) who stars once again as the savage Pat Tate as well as Terry Stone (Rise of the Footsoldier, Doghouse, Plastic) as Tony Tucker. The third instalment will also feature Happy Monday’s frontman Shaun Ryder who will play Mad Dog, a violent prison inmate, Union J’s JJ Hamblett, who plays a young Pat Tate, as well as Eastenders’ hard men Larry Lamb (Triangle, Superman, Buster) and Jamie Foreman (Layer Cake, Sleep Hollow, Elizabeth). The five week shoot will take place in London and Marbella.
Directed by Zackary Alder (The Rise of the Krays, The Fall of the Krays, Casual Encounters) with screenplay by Julian Gilbey, Rise of the Footsoldier: The Beginning is produced by Carnaby International’s Andrew, Mike and Terry Loveday as well as Tiernan Hanby (Snow in Paradise, The Karman Line, Habibti). Set in 1988, the story opens in Marbella with burgeoning Essex gangster Pat Tate trying to smuggle a batch of ecstasy tablets into the UK and infiltrate Southend nightclubs. Double crossed by his suppliers, Tate’s fortune soon takes a turn for the worse and, following a series of violent encounters, he is hunted down by police and imprisoned. Behind bars, he makes a new alliance and together they mastermind a plot to take control of the Essex drugs war and become the most feared gangsters of the underworld. With a bitter vendetta to settle, Tate’s relentless lifestyle of drug use and violence is further fuelled by business partner, Tony Tucker, who steers him on the road to his grizzly end.
Also returning to screen from the original cast is Roland Manookian who plays the character of Craig Rolfe, Ian Virgo, as Jimmy Gerenuk and Billy Murray as Mikey Steele. Also joining the cast is The Wee Man’s Laura McMonagle (Ae Fond Kiss, Tonight You’re Mine) who plays Pat Tate’s long suffering wife.
With furious action and visceral violence throughout, the bloody and gritty feature film is based on the real life story of the Rettendon Triple Murders, aka the ‘Range Rover murders’, when Pat Tate, Tony Tucker and Craig Rolfe were shot to death in a Range Rover on a farm track in Essex. Rise of the Footsoldier: The Beginning tells the story of Pat Tate’s inexorable rise to notoriety through the ranks of the Essex gangland.
Director, Zackary Alder, said: I am a huge fan of the original Rise of the Footsolider movie and am very excited to be a part of the franchise. This instalment will not disappoint fans of the first film. We will be following the incredibly volatile character of Pat Tate played by the great Craig Fairbrass. I am thrilled to be partnering again with Carnaby films who are passionately reinventing the wheel for the British gangster film genre. Rise Of The Foot Solider:The Beginning will be a violently frenetic film, a bloody raw voyage through Essex gangland with Craig Fairbrass as the insane and relentless Pat Tate. The film is set to be a visceral spectacle of hyper violent criminal culture with the wild rollercoaster ride of brutality that is Rise Of The Foot solider.
Shaun Ryder added: “It's an honour to be part of the Rise of the Footsoldier trilogy.”
Now firmly cemented as a cult crime thriller franchise, Rise of The Footsolider Part II, released by Signature Entertainment in 2015, sold over 50,000 units in week one alone and beat multi-million pound box office hits including Sinister 2 and Transporter Refulled as the third bestselling new release that week. Almost a decade on, the original Rise of the Footsoldier has sold over 1 million copies in the UK alone and continues to sell an average of 1,000 copies each month. Rise of The Footsolider Part II also won Best British Film 2016 at the prestigious 2nd annual National Film Awards 2016, beating off stiff competition from Spectre, The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Kingsman (The Secret Service), Macbeth and Absolutely Anything – the award was voted for by the British public and affirms its position as one of the most loved and quintessential of its genre.
Carnaby International will be pre-selling the film and screening exclusive first footage with select buyers at this year’s American Film Market in November. Signature Entertainment are on board to distribute the title in the UK.
