Michael Flatley has insisted his new film Blackbird is "not a vanity project".

The former Lord of the Dance star wrote, directed, and produced the film and he plays the lead role of a Bond-style secret agent.

Filmed in Barbados, where Flatley has a home, it also stars Eric Roberts, and Patrick Bergin as well as British actress Nicole Evans as his love interest.

Speaking to the Hollywood Reporter, he rejected the notion that the film is a vanity project.

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"I'm well aware of that. And I want to be clear about this — I didn't finance it because I wanted to make a vanity project. It would have just taken too long to raise the money, and I didn't know what I'd be doing next year. And when the window was there, we had to get it done. We've since had several offers already for people to come in and take the film, which is really good. So it won't be on my dime at the end of the day."

He went on to explain that the decision to oversee so many aspects of the film was in part down to saving money.

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"And in answering the would-be critics, the reason I did it this way was because, in my shows over all these years, I'm used to directing it, producing it, starring in it and sweeping up the place. And that's kind of what I did on this film. I was my own cheapest labor to do as much of it as I could."

The synopsis for the movie reads, "Troubled secret agent 'Blackbird' abruptly retires from service and opens a luxurious nightclub in the Caribbean to escape the dark shadows of his past. An old flame arrives and reignites love in his life but she brings danger with her."

Posters for the film were unleashed in July and drew criticism for not naming Evans even though she featured prominently alongside her male co-stars. Another poster came under fire for featuring a gaggle of beautiful women in bikinis with the three male stars.

Flatley claims he had "nothing to do with" making the posters which omitted Evans' name and he said that she is actually the "real star" of the movie, which he has billed as mainly a love story, but also a "bit of a thriller".

He also said it's a "completely different movie" to Bond and playing 007 is "not something I aspire to".

Flatley revealed that they have had "several offers" from international distributors but have not accepted on yet. A UK and Ireland release date has yet to be announced.

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