Mackenzie Crook Wraps First Feature Mars Express Starring Toby Jones

Overview

• Production for Mars Express finished and two first‑look images were released in mid‑November, confirming the film has completed principal photography.
• Toby Jones and Emily Watson are billed as Professor Colin Pillinger and Doctor Judith Pillinger in the true‑life drama adapted from Colin Pillinger’s My Life On Mars.
• Joe Bone wrote the screenplay and the film frames the Beagle 2 effort as a 1990s, Britpop‑scored underdog story about a small British team trying to find life on Mars.
• The project lists institutional backers including BigTalk Studios, BBC Film, BFI, Sky, Screen Yorkshire, CML Entertainment Finance and Altitude and shot scenes in locations across Yorkshire and northern England.
• The completion marks Mackenzie Crook’s feature directorial debut and sets up a festival and distribution rollout as the next step, though producers have not announced when audiences will see the film.