LISBON II & THE CUP OF TEARS

Gary Shore, a man who spent last summer making TV ads for the government trying to persuade us to pass Lisbon Treaty II, is being lined up to make a $70m feature film on the basis of a two-minute trailer he put on the Internet.

Shore, 28, has sold the rights to the Cup of Tears, a Japanese martial arts story, to Universal Pictures and Working Title Productions, the UK company behind Bridget Jones and Atonement, according to The Sunday Times.

He produced the trailer in his spare time. It cost €20,000 to make and he was funded by his friends in the industry.

“I got very lucky – there was a lot of hard work and going hungry to make it,” he said.