Colm Meaney, Aidan Gillen, Brian Gleeson and more announced for Paddy Power film

Irish actors Brian Gleeson, Colm Meaney, Alex Murphy and Aidan Gillen are set to star in film Paddy Power, charting the rise of the Irish gambling giant.

The film, from Irish media production company Playhouse Studios, is based on award-winning investigative journalist Aaron Rogan's 2021 non-fiction book Punters: How Paddy Power Bet Billions and Changed Gambling Forever.

Long-time writing duo Dale Longmore and John Quinn will adapt Rogan's book and pen the script with Brian Durnin. The film will be directed by Matt Lipsey, who has worked on Ted Lasso, Inside No.9 and Little Britain.

Paddy Power will recount the "crazy true story of how one man bet big on brash advertising and brought online gambling - and addiction - to every corner of the globe," according to the official synopsis.

"An inherently Irish origin story, it claws open the lid of how a few chancers changed the world as we know it, destroying hundreds of thousands of people's lives forever."

The film marks a significant milestone for Playhouse Studios as it represents the first announcement from its original scripted slate.

"Paddy Power stood out immediately as a story with real scale, authentic dark humour, grit and tenacity," said Playhouse CEO Peggy Cafferty. "You could not make up this incredible story.

"Aaron Rogan's voice made the book such an easy, engaging read and we feel the writing team captured the adaptation brilliantly. This is the extraordinary rise of one company that refused to play by the rules and set out on a path of ambition, risk and consequence."

The original author, Rogan, also added:

"I'm delighted that Peggy and the team at Playhouse see the same value in the Paddy Power story that I have since I started reporting on them a decade ago. It's an Irish story with global appeal and the growth of the gambling industry in the US in recent years makes this adaptation all the more timely."

Playhouse Studios also recently financed the film Lemonade, starring Barry Keoghan, which world premiered at the 2026 Toronto International Film Festival.

Paddy Power does not yet have a release date.