Copyright Deadline
EXCLUSIVE: Comedian Bill Burr is set for Bender, a coming-of-age comedy shooting in Ireland next spring. Described as Superbad meets Derry Girls, Bender is based on the late-’70s, post-punk Dublin coming-of-age experiences of Adrian Cunningham, who penned the script. The story unfolds amid the frenzy surrounding an impending papal visit. Burr plays a gruff American record-store owner who convinces a ragtag gang of teenage misfits that their best, and possibly only, chance to lose their virginity before graduating high school is at a massive open-air mass for the visiting Pope. The film will be produced by Lesley-Ann Brandt (Lucifer) and Cunningham under their D6 Entertainment banner, in partnership with Stephen McCormack and Craig Verdon of the Irish-based ReflektorMedia. The deal for the film’s director is still being worked through, so stand by on that. An Emmy and Grammy Award nominee, Burr is coming off the release of his eighth hour-long stand-up special, Hulu’s Bill Burr: Drop Dead, which was nominated for two Emmys. Recently, he also received rave reviews in his Broadway debut starring alongside Kieran Culkin and Bob Odenkirk in David Mamet’s Glengarry Glen Ross, which ran from March through June. After making his feature directorial debut with the Netflix comedy Old Dads, in which he also starred, Burr is getting back behind the camera next year on Born Losers, a film he co-wrote and will direct, produce and star in. Upcoming, he’ll also be seen starring alongside Jeremy Allen White, Mikey Madison and Jeremy Strong in Aaron Sorkin’s The Social Reckoning, which hits theaters on October 9, 2026. He is repped by 3 Arts Entertainment, WME, and Schreck Rose Dapello. An Irish-born, LA-based former ad creative director turned screenwriter, Cunningham is repped by Luber Roklin and Goodman, Genow, Schenkman. An actress known for starring in Netflix’s Lucifer, Brandt previously produced the South African Oscar entry The Heart Is a Muscle from writer-director Imran Hamdulay, which was awarded the Panorama Independent Jury Prize at Berlinale this year. She is repped by CAA, Luber Roklin Entertainment and Goodman, Genow, Schenkman.
