Former gangster Paul Ferris has met with River City star Paul Brannigan, who is set to portray him in a new movie sequel to the 2013 film The Wee Man. Brannigan, 38, and Ferris, 62, met for the first time on Thursday at Molly Malone's pub in Hope Street, Glasgow, to discuss the project.
Sequel to The Wee Man
The new film, expected to be titled Ferris, will be produced by Glasgow-based Tartan Productions. It follows The Wee Man, which won a Scottish BAFTA and starred Martin Compston as Ferris. Compston later became famous for his role in BBC's Line of Duty. The sequel begins in 1993 after the death of crime boss Arthur Thompson Snr, covering Ferris's arrest and imprisonment on gun running charges and his eventual turn to a crime-free life as a successful author.
Ray Burdis, who directed The Wee Man and is known for directing the 1990 biopic The Krays, will direct and write the screenplay for the sequel. A movie source said: "The whole production crew came up from London on Thursday. They are looking to cast Paul Brannigan as Ferris."
Paul Brannigan's Background
Brannigan, from Glasgow's Barrowfield, began his film career as Robbie in Ken Loach's 2012 comedy drama The Angels' Share, which won the Jury Prize at Cannes. He was nominated for a BAFTA Scotland Best Actor award for his role and has appeared in River City, Under the Skin, Sunshine on Leith, and Irish crime drama Love/Hate. He is the only actor cast so far.
Ferris's Criminal Past
Ferris first gained notoriety in 1992 when he was acquitted at the High Court in Glasgow of murdering Arthur Thompson Jnr, son of crime boss Arthur Thompson Snr. The trial, then the longest in Scottish criminal history, also cleared him of attempted murder, conspiracy, firearm possession, and drug supply. It cost the taxpayer £4 million at the time—over £9 million today. In 1998, Ferris was convicted at the Old Bailey of firearms charges and sentenced to 10 years, later reduced to seven on appeal, in an investigation involving MI5.
While in prison, he wrote The Ferris Conspiracy (2001), which became The Wee Man. In a 2024 interview, Ferris told the Daily Record: "The fact I've been crime free for 22 years must demonstrate something. Going straight and that commitment is probably the hardest thing I've done in my life."
Movie Budget and Filming
The sequel has a multi-million pound budget and is expected to film in Glasgow. The movie source added: "The movie will look at Ferris's experiences of the penal system down south after he was caught with firearms up to modern times as a reformed criminal turned best selling author."
Ferris's Life After Crime
After his release in 2002, Ferris entered the security industry before turning to writing. He had a long-running feud with crime boss Tam McGraw, who died in 2007. Ferris's criminal career began as a teenage getaway driver in a jewellery heist, leading to time in a young offenders institution and a 1984 weapons charge before the 1992 murder trial.
