Cult book set to be adapted for silver screen

A cult book about a group of Oban schoolgirls who go on a boozy rampage in Edinburgh is being transformed for the big screen by Scots director Michael Caton-Jones.

The filmmaker has started shooting an adaptation of Scots author Alan Warner’s hit novel The Sopranos – although the film is to be given a different title to avoid confusion with the American mafia TV series.

Billed as “Pitch Perfect meets Trainspotting”, it is set in the 1990s over the course of a single day and follows six schoolgirls from Oban who come to Edinburgh for a singing competition.

“The wit and energy... is as fresh, and as raw, as ever”

But they are more interested in “going mental” – drinking, partying and hooking up with men – than in winning the competition.

The film stars actresses Eve Austin, Tallulah Greive, Abigail Lawrie, Sally Messham, Rona Morison and Marli Siu who will appear alongside Kate Dickie and David Hayman.

It is to be filmed entirely in Scotland and production began this week in Edinburgh.

A cult hit in Britain, Oban-born Warner’s 1998 novel has previously been turned into a successful stage play by Billy Elliot writer Lee Hall.

Jennifer Armitage, of Screen Scotland, said: “We are delighted to be supporting the film adaptation of Alan Warner’s iconic novel.

“While the world has transformed since the 1990s, the wit and energy of The Sopranos is as fresh, and as raw, as ever.

“This is a wonderful opportunity for bold performances by a cast of young women, challenging conventional perceptions... of women in film.”