Angels Share and River City star Paul Brannigan is being lined up to play the part of former gangster Paul Ferris in a sensational new movie about his life.
The film is a sequel to The Wee Man which won a Scottish BAFTA following its release in 2013.
Then Ferris was played by Martin Compston who went on to become a star of BBC drama Line of Duty.
The new movie is expected to be called Ferris after the reformed crime figure and will be made by Glasgow based Tartan Productions
The Wee Man told the story of him growing up in the tough Blackhill area of Glasgow and how he came to work as an enforcer for Glasgow crime boss Arthur Thomson snr in the 1980’s
The sequel begins in 1993 following Arthur Thompson snr’s death and tells of Ferris’s arrest and imprisonment on gun running charges and how he eventually gave up crime to become a successful author.
We can reveal that Brannigan, 38, and Ferris, 62, met for the first time on Thursday at lunchtime in Molly Malone’s pub in Hope Street, Glasgow to discuss the project.
They were joined by Ray Burdis who directed The Wee Man and is planning to direct the sequel as well as write the screen play.
Burdis is best known for directing 1990 biopic The Krays, featuring brothers Martin and Gary Kemp from Spandau Ballet as the notorious London gangsters Ronnie and Reggie Kray.
View 5 ImagesFormer Glasgow gangster Paul Ferris in 2013(Image: PA)
A movie source said: “The whole production crew came up from London on Thursday.
“They are looking to cast Paul Brannigan as Ferris.
“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.
“It has a multi million pound budget and it looks like they will be filming here in Glasgow
“Paul Brannigan is the only one that has been cast so far.”
Ferris first came to public attention in 1992 when he was cleared at the High Court in Glasgow of the murder of Arthur Thompson jnr – son of Arthur Thompson snr – in what was then the longest running trial in Scottish criminal history.
View 5 ImagesPaul Ferris walking from Glasgow High Court after being found not guilty of murder Arthur Thompson jnr (Image: Daily Record)
He was also cleared at the same trial of the attempted murder of Arthur Thompson Snr by repeatedly driving a car at him, conspiracy, illegal possession of a firearm and supplying heroin, cocaine and ecstasy.
The trial was said to have cost the taxpayer £4million at the time – more than £9 million in todays money.
Ferris then stood trial at the Old Bailey in London in 1998 where he was convicted of firearms charges
Ferris was sentenced to 10 years in prison – later reduced to seven on appeal – following a lengthy police investigation that had also involved members of the security services including MI5.
While still in prison he brought out his first book “The Ferris Conspiracy” in 2001 which was turned into the Wee Man.
In an interview in 2024 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.”
View 5 ImagesMartin Compston as Ferris in The Wee Man(Image: Tony Kyriacou / Rex Features)
Brannigan, who is from Glasgow’s tough Barrowfield, began his film career as Robbie in the acclaimed 2012 Ken Loach comedy drama, The Angels’ Share, set in Glasgow and the Scottish Highlands.
Angels Share subsequently won the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival.
Brannigan was also nominated for a BAFTA Scotland award for Best Actor for his role.
He has also had parts in River City, movies Under the Skin and Sunshine on Leith, and in 2014 appeared as Scotty in the fifth series of Irish crime drama Love/Hate and as Michael in the UK thriller Beyond.
It is understood that Brannigan is the first person to be lined up for a role in the Ferris sequel.
View 5 ImagesCast of The Angels’ Share(Image: Joss Barratt / Sixteen Films)
The Wee Man starred Hollywood actor Patrick Bergin as Arthur Thomson snr and John Hannah as rival crime boss Tam McGraw. Denis Lawson played the part of Ferris’s father William.
Ferris is reported to have began his criminal career as a teenage getaway driver in a jewellery store heist and spent time in a young offenders institution.
He was then sent to prison in 1984 on weapons charges before standing trial for the Arthur Thompson jnr murder in 1992.
Young Arthur was gunned down outside the family’s home in Provanmill, Glasgow, known as the Ponderosa in August 1991 while on home leave from prison.
Two friends of Ferris, Bobby Glover and Joe ‘Bananas’ Hanlon, were shot dead on the day of his funeral the following month, seen as retribution from Arthur snr. for his sons’ murder.
After his release from prison in 2002 on firearms charges, Ferris became involved in the security industry before turning to writing
Ferris also had a long running feud with another Glasgow crime boss Tam’ McGraw dating back to the 1990’s who he accused of being a police informer.
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McGraw who was nicknamed the Licensee died in 2007 following a heart attack at his home in Mount Vernon, Glasgow.