Fisherman's Friends (film)

Fisherman's Friends is a 2019 biographical comedy-drama directed by Chris Foggin from a screenplay by Nick Moorcroft, Meg Leonard and Piers Ashworth.

The film is based on a true story about Port Isaac's Fisherman's Friends, a group of Cornish fishermen from Port Isaac who were signed by Universal Records and achieved a top 10 hit with their debut album of traditional sea shanties.

The film stars an ensemble cast headed by Daniel Mays, James Purefoy and Tuppence Middleton with David Hayman, Noel Clarke, Dave Johns, Maggie Steed, Sam Swainsbury and Christian Brassington playing key supporting roles.

It was produced by Nick Moorcroft, Meg Leonard and James Spring, who produced hit film Finding Your Feet through their production companies Powder Keg Pictures and Fred Films.

Plot
A fast living, cynical London music executive reluctantly heads to Cornwall on a colleague’s stag weekend where he’s pranked by his boss into trying to sign a group of shanty singing fishermen. He becomes the ultimate ‘fish out of water’ struggling to gain the respect or enthusiasm of the unlikely boy band who value friendship and community over fame and fortune. Attempting to overcome the fishermen’s scepticism about the music business, he finds himself drawn into the community, has his integrity tested and ultimately is shown the meaning of loyalty, love and friendship. This forces him to re-evaluate what really matters in life; ultimately giving him the chance of a different kind of success.

Cast

 * Daniel Mays as Danny
 * James Purefoy as Jim
 * David Hayman as Jago
 * Dave Johns as Leadville
 * Sam Swainsbury as Rowan
 * Tuppence Middleton as Alwyn
 * Noel Clarke as Troy
 * Christian Brassington as Henry
 * Maggie Steed as Maggie
 * Jo Hart as Journalist
 * Julian Seager as Trieve
 * Christopher Villiers as Charles Montague
 * Meadow Nobrega as Tamsyn
 * Jade Anouka as Leah
 * Ashley Bannerman as Nurse

Two-Michelin-starred Port Isaac chef Nathan Outlaw has a cameo role as a man who has unwisely parked his car where the tide can swamp it.

Conception
In 2010, the Fisherman's Friends performed live on This Morning. The films writers and producers, Meg Leonard and Nick Moorcroft saw them perform and contacted the group's manager and optioned their life rights with fellow producer, James Spring.

Filming
Filming commenced on 30 April 2018 on location in Port Isaac, Cornwall and London for five weeks. All members of the band have cameos in the film and worked as consultants on the film.

Box Office
The film was released on 503 screens on 15 March 2019 in the United Kingdom and debuted at #2 in the UK Box office chart grossing $1,534,908 in its opening weekend behind global box office phenomenon Captain Marvel. The film was #3 in its second weekend taking $1,285,332. The film was #4 in its 3rd weekend taking $820,293. As of Friday 10th May 2019, the film had grossed $9,553,041.

Soundtrack
Island Records released the films original soundtrack titled Keep Hauling - Music From The Movie on 15 March 2019.