24 Hour Party People heads back to cinemas in 4K for its 24th anniversary

Manchester’s Factory Records era is heading back to the big screen, with Michael Winterbottom’s 24 Hour Party People returning to UK and Irish cinemas this October to mark 24 years since its original release.

Remastered in 4K, the 2002 film stars Steve Coogan as Granada TV presenter Tony Wilson, charting his journey from witnessing the Sex Pistols play Manchester in 1976 to founding Factory Records and becoming a central figure in the city’s rapidly changing music scene.

Along the way come Joy Division, New Order and the Happy Mondays, as well as the creation of The Haçienda nightclub. Blending fact, fiction and black comedy, the film captures the personalities and excesses surrounding Factory Records and the rise of the Madchester scene.

Coogan is joined by a cast including Paddy Considine, Shirley Henderson, Lennie James, John Simm, Ralf Little, Andy Serkis, Peter Kay, Sean Harris and John Thomson, alongside cameos from figures connected to the Manchester music scene.

Ahead of the wider cinema release, 24 Hour Party People will open Greater Manchester music and media festival and conference Beyond The Music at MediaCity in Salford on 6^th October. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with Coogan, Winterbottom and producer Andrew Eaton.

The anniversary also gives the film its first 4K UHD release later in October, offering another chance to revisit its chaotic take on a period when Manchester became one of the centres of British music.

The editorial unit

24 Hour Party People is re-released in UK and Irish cinemas from 9^th October and on Digital and 4K UHD from 26^th October 2026.

Watch the trailer for 24 Hour Party People here: