Berlin 2012: Brendan Gleeson, Chris O'Dowd and Aidan Gillen Sign Up for John Michael McDonagh's 'Calvary'

4:34 AM PST 2/9/2012 by Stuart Kemp

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Follow-up to McDonagh's "The Guard" is being offered to acquisitions execs during the EFM by Protagonist Pictures.

BERLIN — John Michael McDonagh's follow-up to his debut The Guard has attracted the acting chops of Brendan Gleeson, Chris O'Dowd, Kelly Reilly and Aidan Gillen.

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McDonagh's much-anticipated second feature Calvary, which the filmmmaker will direct from his own script, is being touted to buyers in Berlin by U.K. sales banner Protagonist Pictures.

Isaach de Bankolé is also attached to join.

Billed as a black comic drama, McDonagh's sophomore film details the story of a good priest tormented by his community.

Chris Clark and Flora Fernandez-Marengo of British-based Reprisal Films are producing with Elizabeth Eves as co-producer, reuniting the team that brought The Guard to the big screen.

The filmmakers said the main character in Calvary, Father James Lavelle, is the flipside to Gleeson's character Sergeant Gerry in The Guard. A good man intent on making the world a better place, he is continually shocked and saddened by the spiteful and confrontational inhabitants of his small country town. One day, his life is threatened during confession, and the forces of darkness begin to close in around him.

Said Clark: “Once again, John Michael McDonagh has written a screenplay of startling wit and originality, and it’s exciting to have the incredible Brendan Gleeson on board to play what promises to be another memorable role.”

The movie is set to shoot in late summer.