Essex Boys - Essex Boys Film Hits West End


Last Update: 03 June 2000


13 April 2000

Source: This is Essex

Essex Boys film hits West End

The new movie which is set to put Essex on the map - Essex Boys, starring Sean Bean and Alex Kingston - was premiered in the West End before a 600-strong audience.

It is scheduled for a nationwide release on July 14.

The movie is loosely based on the Rettendon shootings in 1995 which left three men - Pat Tate, Craig Rolfe and Tony Tucker - dead and two others - Jack Whomes and Mick Steele - in prison for murder.

The film also stars Charlie Creed-Miles, who was so memorable in the shocking Nil By Mouth, and Tom Wilkinson, who appeared in The Full Monty.

Shot almost entirely on location in Essex, it features extensive footage of Southend, Canvey Island and Brightlingsea. It is directed by Terry Winsor, who also wrote the screenplay with producer Jeff Pope.

Mr Winsor admitted they had been inspired by the infamous killings.

He added: "The newspaper article about the deaths aroused both Jeff Pope's and my interest in what was happening in Essex at the time.

"Essex seemed to have become the centre of crime. That really got us going with regards to the history leading up to the images of the three guys dead in the Range Rover."

The at-times violent thriller follows the fortunes of Billy Reynolds (Creed-Miles) who gets mixed up with a ruthless band of drug dealers led by Jason Locke (Bean). If it proves a box-office hit, Winsor and Pope hope to release it in America.



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