24 Hour Party People is a 2002 film about Manchester's rock community from 1977 to 1997 directed by Michael Winterbottom. It begins with the punk rock era, and moves through the 1980s into the "Madchester" scene of the late 1980s and early 1990s. The movie is a dramatisation based on real events. The main character, played by comedian, Steve Coogan, is Tony Wilson, the head of Factory Records and the narrative largely follows his career, but the movie also has another primary focus, the music of the era. Bands such as Joy Division, A Certain Radio, New Order, and The Happy Mondays are potrayed by actors in the film, and are occasionally intercut with real footage taken at the time of the events depicted.
In supporting roles are Shirley Henderson as Tony's wife, Lindsay, Andy Serkis as producer Martin Hannett, Sean Harris as Joy Division singer Ian Curtis, and Danny Cunningham as Happy Monday Shaun Ryder. Many of the actual characters depicted appear in cameo roles such as Mani (see: Gary Mounfield) of The Stone Roses, the real Tony Wilson, and Paul Ryder of The Happy Mondays.
A novelization, 24 Hour Party People, based on the screenplay for the film, was written by Wilson himself and released in 2003.
