To Harry Potter fans, he is the flame-haired best friend of the boy-wizard who has attracted an army of fans and dedicated websites. But when the actor Rupert Grint moved on from his boyish role as Ron Weasley at Hogwarts and signed up to star in a coming-of-age teen film featuring sex and drugs in Belfast, it did not put his fans off one iota.
After the independent film Cherrybomb, which premiered at the Berlin Film Festival, failed to attract a distributor, Grint’s supporters set up a campaign to petition for its cinematic release. Cinephiles from as far afield as Mexico and Los Angeles contacted The Little Film Company, its sales agent, to enquire about its release. And the “people power” campaign has now paid off.
Backed by a website petition and Facebook group boasting more than 10,000 supporters, including over 1,000 Britons, producers secured a major distributor in Britain. Details of the release, planned for early next year, will be announced this week. The Little Film Company is also in negotiation with an American distributor.
My my my, they grow up so fast…