North-east film director Jon S Baird has confirmed works are underway to create a new “Scottish Godfather” movie.
The Peterhead-born filmmaker has joined forces with award-winning Scottish writer Gregory Burke to bring the epic crime drama to life.
The movie will be set in Glasgow; a dream come true for the world-renowned creator.
Mr Baird announced the exciting project during an appearance on the Restless Natives podcast – presented by Martin Compston and Gordon Smart.
He said: “I have always wanted to do something in Scotland again but on a big scale and get everybody together.
“Myself and a writer called Gregory Burke – he’s a really great writer and Scottish guy from Dunfermline – we have just started writing a script. It’s based on the Glasgow underworld but it’s a Scottish version of a Godfather story. It’s tasty.”
Script in the works for new blockbuster movie
Mr Baird confirmed a script was already in the works, as excitement for the project builds among film companies and studios.
In the 70-minute long podcast, the director spoke of how the project became a hot topic during the Bafta Scotland awards.
Mr Baird added: “I was up at the Bafta Scotland a couple of weeks ago and Shirley Henderson was getting the lifetime achievement, so she asked me to present it to her, which was great. I literally whispered to one person, “We’re going to be doing this Scottish Godfather,” and half an hour later, I had Dougray and Tony Curran and everyone else over asking “What’s all this? That’s what I want to do. I’m really excited about it.”
The film will follow hot on the heels of his latest Hollywood blockbuster, Tetris, set in the heart of Aberdeen.
Based on true events, the Apple TV+ film stars Taron Egerton and tells the origin story of the popular Nintendo video game.
Streets across the city were transformed into Soviet-era Russia to form the backdrop for the film.
Shooting for the big-budget picture got underway in February 2021 attracting large crowds of spectators.
For days fans lined the streets to catch a glimpse of the action first hand.
Mr Baird concealed his desires to be a film director while growing up in the north-east
Capturing the audience’s attention has been a longstanding dream for the Scottish director.
Growing up in Peterhead, Mr Baird spoke of how he kept his desire to become a director under wraps before setting his sights on London to begin a career in the film industry.
He added: “There isn’t an industry up there. I didn’t come from a family that had any connections at all or any sort of connections in that industry.
“My dad loved musical theatre. He worked in construction and his brother-in-law, my uncle, used to live down in the south coast of England and we used to come down and stay with him twice a year. On the way down we would always stop in London and my dad, who was a quiet sort of guy and a man’s man, just loved the musicals.
“As a kid, he would bring us to Oliver, Me and My Girl and Miss Saigone. I really got the bug from an early age, but I was in a state school in Peterhead and it’s not the kind of place you can turn around and say, “I want to be a theatre director.”
“I kept that to myself for years and years and then I went to Aberdeen University, graduated from there and as soon as I was able, I moved straight to London where the streets were paved with gold and not haddock.”
Mr Baird went on to secure his first job as a runner; helping to pave the way towards a successful career in the industry.