Advertisement
BUY A WINTER SUPPORT KIT & CHANGE A VENDOR’S LIFE
BUY NOW
Film

James Bowen and Street Cat Bob: From the streets to the silver screen

The incredible tale of James Bowen and Street Cat Bob is hitting the big screen next year – see production pictures here…

From Big Issue vendor to bestselling author to the big screen… James and Bob’s story is set to take cinemas by storm next year. The film version of James’ bestselling A Street Cat Named Bob book is being filmed at locations around London right now (see below) with Tomorrow Never Dies and Turner & Hooch director Roger Spottiswoode at the helm.

The rights to the film were snapped up in 2012 shortly after the book hit the bestseller lists at a time when James and Bob were still busking on the streets of London. In the film, James is being played by Luke Treadaway, who won an Olivier award for his role in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. Undoubtedly there will have been plenty of curious incidents with cats during filming – Bob is playing himself but with the help of eight specially trained cat doubles, while James is advising on the film.

The film co-stars Ruta Gedmintas (pictured below right, alongside Luke as James with the real James and Bob!) as well as Downton Abbey’s Joanne Froggatt and Anthony Head, of Buffy the Vampire Slayer fame (pictured below with Bob).

Before the film has even wrapped, international distribution rights have been secured, ensuring that it will be released in territories around the world including Europe, Australia and Latin America.

All of this means that the growth in Street Cat mania is set to continue. Keep reading The Big Issue for updates on James and Bob’s next exciting chapter…

Advertisement
Advertisement

Change a vendor's life this Christmas and beyond

Buy a Big Issue Winter Support Kit for £34.99, you’ll receive four copies of the magazine and vendors could receive immediate tools for survival plus access to vital training and employment pathways to escape poverty for good.

Recommended for you

Read All
'Activism and organising is kinda sexy!': Colman Domingo on Rustin, Oscar buzz and the Obamas
Film

'Activism and organising is kinda sexy!': Colman Domingo on Rustin, Oscar buzz and the Obamas

Love Actually: Is it a Christmas classic or an unwatchable schmaltz-fest? 
Film

Love Actually: Is it a Christmas classic or an unwatchable schmaltz-fest? 

Napoleon review – a man at war with the world and himself
Film

Napoleon review – a man at war with the world and himself

Saltburn review – Barry Keoghan steals the show
Film

Saltburn review – Barry Keoghan steals the show

Most Popular

Read All
Renters pay their landlords' buy-to-let mortgages, so they should get a share of the profits
1.

Renters pay their landlords' buy-to-let mortgages, so they should get a share of the profits

Exclusive: Disabled people are 'set up to fail' by the DWP in target-driven disability benefits system, whistleblowers reveal
2.

Exclusive: Disabled people are 'set up to fail' by the DWP in target-driven disability benefits system, whistleblowers reveal

Here's when people will get the cost of living payment in 2024
3.

Here's when people will get the cost of living payment in 2024

Citroën Ami: the tiny electric vehicle driving change with The Big Issue
4.

Citroën Ami: the tiny electric vehicle driving change with The Big Issue