'Superbad meets Derry Girls'

Chris O’Dowd is to join Bill Burr on the coming-of-age comedy Bender.

Described as Superbad meets Derry Girls, Bender is based on the experiences of writer  Adrian Cunningham as a young man in Dublin ahead of the Pope’s  historic visit in 1979. 

Hollywood website Deadline reports that O’Dowd will play a self-made family man ‘trying to put on a brave face while his business, his marriage, and his faith begin to crumble amid a brutal economic recession.’

As previously announced, Burr plays an American record-store owner who convinces a gang of teenage misfits that their best chance to lose their virginity  is at a massive open-air mass in Phoenix Park.

Shooting starts in Ireland this summer, directed by Adam Bernstein, whose credits include episodes of the TV shows 30 Rock, Scrubs and Breaking Bad.

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Published: 21 Apr 2026