Oscar-nominated British actor Clive Owen is in Cyprus for the filming of the action thriller Scorpion, a Copper Islandproduction. Filming began on Monday 6 July 2026 and will be completed in Bulgaria at the end of the month. According to the company, the production is being carried out on the island with one of the highest daily budgets ever recorded for a film production in Cyprus.
The cast
Alongside Owen, known from Closer, Children of Men and Gemini Man, the film stars Alex Pettyfer (Magic Mike, The Butler, The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare) and Reda Elazouar (Sex Education, The Family Plan). The cast is completed by Ronan Summers (Guardians of the Galaxy), Jake Ryan (War Machine), Mark Rhino Smith (Creed), Joey Ansah (The Bourne Ultimatum), Alex Cooke (Blacklight) and Luke Bouchier (The Enforcer).
According to the company, the cooperation with the Cyprus Film Commission was instrumental in bringing the production of Scorpion to Cyprus, with its support continuing to make the country an attractive destination for film productions of this scale.
The plot of Scorpion
In Scorpion, Jason (Reda Elazouar), a young police officer, takes on his first mission with an elite special operations unit staffed by veterans of the war in Afghanistan.
A night operation at an isolated farmhouse turns into a deadly trap. Cut off from all means of communication and trapped inside the building, the members of the unit come face to face with a menacing voice that issues a ruthless ultimatum: every thirty minutes one of them will die, unless someone confesses what really happened during a highly classified operation years earlier.
As the clock counts down, trust between the members of the unit collapses. Paranoia spreads, survival becomes the only rule, and former comrades-in-arms turn against one another. Trapped among men he once admired, Jason realises there were never any heroes, only survivors of a truth from which none of them can escape.
The production team
The screenplay is written by Richard Hughes and Bennett Fisher. The production of Scorpion is undertaken by Matt Murphie, David Mansfield and Luke Bouchier on behalf of Copper Island.
WestEnd Films has taken on the film's international sales and will present selected footage of Scorpion to buyers for the first time at the Toronto International Film Festival this September.
What Matt Murphie and Clive Owen said
Copper Island founder Matt Murphie said the company is delighted to be producing Scorpion in Cyprus, thanking the Cyprus Film Commission for its support and the exceptional local film crew that is playing a decisive role in bringing the production to the big screen.
For his part, Clive Owen described filming Scorpion in Cyprus as an outstanding experience, saying Copper Island created an excellent production environment and that the local film crew showed high professionalism and a particularly positive attitude. He noted that the island offers an impressive variety of filming locations and expressed the hope of returning to shoot more productions here.
Copper Island expands its international presence
Copper Island has undertaken the production and financing of Scorpion. According to the company, the filming in Cyprus confirms that the country has the capacity to host and support international film productions with stars and crews of global standing, paving the way for attracting even more high-budget productions.
Scorpion comes in a particularly dynamic year for Copper Island, during which the company is expanding its international presence through major film productions. Its portfolio includes the recent premiere of The Leader at the Tribeca Film Festival, as well as the worldwide release of Dead Man's Wire, directed by Gus Van Sant and starring Bill Skarsgård, Al Pacino and Colman Domingo, and Eden, directed by Ron Howard and starring Jude Law, Ana de Armas and Sydney Sweeney.
In addition, Copper Island founder Matt Murphie is serving as executive producer on the upcoming film Anxious People, starring Angelina Jolie.
The company is also contributing to the development of Cypriot film production, participating in the financing and creative development of Apart by Stelana Kliris, which is at the stage of seeking international distribution, as well as The Well by Marios Piperides, which is completing post-production at Copper Island's facilities in Limassol.
