Whether or not Colin Farrell returns to a second season of The Penguin, the Irish star will be back on HBO later this year.
The network has acquired the TV and streaming rights to The Slightest Touch documentary, which features Farrell and Epidermolysis Bullosa survivor Emma Fogarty.
Ahead of its world premiere at the Dublin International Film Festival later this month, HBO Documentary Films landed the film, which comes from director Rachel Fleit, who helmed HBO Max doc Bama Rush.
The film follows Fogarty, who lives with EB, a rare and extremely painful genetic condition that leaves her skin so fragile it blisters and tears at the slightest touch. As she turns 40, the age doctors predicted she would never reach, she takes up an offer from her long-time friend, Colin Farrell, to complete the Dublin Marathon together, with Farrell pushing her wheelchair for the final few miles. It follows their lives and the enduring friendship that has sustained them through the years.
HBO will premiere the doc later this year and it will also stream on HBO Max globally, including on its newly launched UK and Irish service.
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The film comes from Fine Point Films and Chapel Place Productions, in association with The Kennedy/Marshall Company, Original Films, Deshe Capital LLC, The deNovo Initiative, Union Editorial, Northern Ireland Screen and Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland.
Fleit produces alongside Farrell, Claudine Farrell, Trevor Birney, Eimhear O’Neill, and Frank Marshall and is exec produced by Aly Parker, Tony Rosenthal, Alexandra Bowen, Ori Eisen, Michael Raimondi, Katherine LeBlond, Niamh Fagan and the Deshe Family with Dawn Bonder, Daniel J. Chalfen, and Marci Wiseman as co-exec producers.
Rachel Fleit said, “Making this film brought me back, over and over, to what I think matters most in life: love, care, community, and the friendships that carry us. It was an honor to bear witness to the extraordinary bond between Emma and Colin, and I’m deeply grateful to HBO Documentary Films for helping bring this story, and its message, to audiences around the world.”
Colin Farrell added, “I can’t think of The Slightest Touch as a film, certainly not like any film I’ve ever been a part of before. For me, it’s simply a collage of home videos, moments in time that we all shared during its making. Whatever the film is, whatever people may find it to be, we’re so grateful that our adventure, our friendships, and our shared love for each other has found a home on HBO.”