James McAvoy’s California Schemin’ To Close 2026 Glasgow Film Festival

James McAvoy’s directorial debut will have its UK premiere as the closing gala for  2026 Glasgow Film Festival in March.

The film stars Séamus McLean and Ross Samuel Bottomley  as our wannabe rappers. This is based on the improbably true story, California Schemin’ follows aspiring Scottish rap duo Silibil N’ Brains, a.k.a. Gavin Bain (Ross) and Billy Boyd (Bottomley), as they devise an audacious scheme to achieve their dream of a record deal, by posing as Californian hip hop artists. As fame beckons and the lies pile up, their lifelong friendship is put to the test. Rooted in the rap scene of the early 2000s, California Schemin’ was shot in locations around Scotland, including Silibil N’ Brains’ home city of Dundee and Glasgow’s iconic music venue, the Barrowlands.

The film also stars McAvoy along with Lucy Halliday, and Rebekah Murrell.

James McAvoy, received the Cinema City Honorary Award at  this year’s Glasgow Film Festival commented: “As a proud Glaswegian, I’m delighted to be premiering California Schemin’ as the Closing Night Gala of the Glasgow Film Festival.

We made our film in Glasgow and Dundee with the support of a phenomenal Scottish cast and crew, so it feels fitting that we bring it back home for its UK premiere.

California Schemin’ is an unbelievable true story about identity, ambition, fame and how much you’re willing to sacrifice to get it.  It’s a wild story and I can’t wait to share the film with festival audiences in March.”

The Festival’s head programmer Paul Gallagher  also commented “I’m thrilled that we will close GFF26 with the UK premiere of a homegrown story that fully deserves its place on the world stage. James McAvoy has poured his heart and soul into making California Schemin’, and the results are right there on the screen; this is a film of huge emotions, hilarious characters, firecracker performances and a Barrowlands-set finale that blows the roof off. Mark your diaries, this is one party you won’t want to miss.”

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California Schemin’ will be released in UK and Irish cinemas from 10th April 2026. 2026 Glasgow Film Festival will run from 25th February to 8th March, 2026.