Film

‘Oh My God, What A Complete Aisling’ is going to be a movie

Emer McLysaght and Sarah Breen: ‘You can imagine our notions when they approached us’

The character of Aisling, a country girl in the Big Smoke, grew out of a Facebook page created by the authors in 2008

Dominique McMullan
Mon Feb 26 2018 - 13:50

The Irish best-selling novel Oh My God, What a Complete Aisling is to become a film. The film rights have been acquired by Element Pictures, the company behind successful films Room, The Lobster, A Date for Mad Mary and The Killing of a Sacred Deer.

The debut book, written by friends Emer McLysaght and Sarah Breen, claimed the spot as number-one bestselling adult fiction title in Ireland for 2017. McLysaght and Breen are both on board to write the screenplay for the film.

Sarah Breen commented to The Irish Times: "The last few months have been a whirlwind for Emer and I. It's been such a privilege to hear from people who enjoyed the book and we are so grateful to everyone who recommended it to family and friends. You can imagine our notions when Element Pictures approached us and said they thought it would make a great movie. But as soon as they said it, we saw it too. We know we're in safe hands and are so excited to get on with adapting it for the screen.

“Imagine! Aisling on the big screen! We’ve known this character for 10 years, so to be given the opportunity to take her from the pages of our beloved book and transform her into a walking, talking, caring (and judging, let’s be honest) girl in front of a camera is beyond our wildest dreams. We can’t wait to start!”

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Element Pictures producer Rory Gilmartin commented: “We couldn’t be more excited at the thought of working with Emer & Sarah to bring Aisling into cinemas. The huge success of this debut book is a testament to the strength of their writing - so funny and yet so full of heart.”

The character of Aisling, the quintessential country girl living and working in the Big Smoke, grew out of a Facebook page created by the authors in 2008. It now has more than 45,000 followers. The book tells the story of Aisling’s journey from living at home in Ballygobbard to moving to a three-bed in Portobello with stylish Sadhbh from human resources and her mysterious friend Elaine.

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