Bradley Cooper’s third film as director, a divorce comedy drawn from John Bishop’s life, had its international premiere at the BFI London Film Festival’s Royal Festival Hall.
Bradley Cooper, director of A Star Is Born, brought Is This Thing On? to the Royal Festival Hall on the South Bank on Tuesday 14 October 2025. It is his third film as director, and Will Arnett and Laura Dern joined him.
Cooper was born in 1975 outside Philadelphia and trained at the Actors Studio. The Hangover made him a star in 2009, and he has been nominated for twelve Academy Awards.
A Star Is Born, his debut as director in 2018, won him a BAFTA, and Maestro followed.
Cooper wrote the new film with Arnett and Mark Chappell, loosely basing it on the life of the English comedian John Bishop. Arnett plays Alex, who faces an impending divorce on the New York comedy circuit. Dern plays Tess, his wife.
The screening was the film’s international premiere, a gala of the BFI London Film Festival. Its world premiere had closed the New York Film Festival on 10 October, and Searchlight Pictures released it on 19 December.
Andra Day also walked the carpet, and Cooper takes a supporting role.