Free ‘24 Hour Party People’ screenings to take place in UK cinemas next month

To celebrate the 24th anniversary of influential, riotous Madchester biopic 24 Hour Party People, more than 100 independent cinemas will be screening the film for free in October. Find out how to get your ticket below.

Released in 2002, comedy drama 24 Hour Party People tells the story of Manchester’s incredible music scene from the late ‘70s to early ‘90s through the eyes of Factory Records’ founder Tony Wilson (Steve Coogan) who signed Happy Mondays and Joy Division among others.

Alongside celebrated actors Paddy Considine, Simon Pegg, John Simm, Rob Brydon, Lennie James, Keith Allen and Andy Serkis, 24 Hour Party People features cameos from Manchester legends such as Happy Mondays’ Paul Ryder and Rowetta, Mark E. Smith and Mani of The Stone Roses.

Earlier this week, it was confirmed that a screening of 24 Hour Party People would kick off Manchester’s music and media industry conference Beyond The City on October 6, followed by a Q&A featuring Coogan, director Michael Winterbottom and producer Andrew Eaton.

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It’s now been announced that more than 100 independent cinemas across the UK will be putting on free screenings of 24 Hour Party People in association with Escapes, the nationwide free cinema initiative supported by the British Film Institute (BFI). Since Escapes launched in 2024, more than 250,000 free cinema tickets have been claimed by the public.

The 24 Hour Party People screenings will take place between October 5 and 6. For more details and to get tickets, click here.

Speaking about the film recently, Coogan said: “24 Hour Party People is the work that is closest to my heart. I haven’t seen it for nearly 25 years. It captures the creative spirit of the town I am proud to have grown up in. I feel very sentimental about it all, which Tony Wilson would have deplored.”