Andrew Garfield is headed to the friendly skies.
The actor, who was nominated for an Emmy on July 12 for his role in Under The Banner of Heaven, is sticking to the small screen as he’s set to play billionaire entrepreneur Richard Branson, according to Deadline.
The project is a six-part limited series titled Hot Air, based on the books Dirty Tricks by investigative journalist Martyn Gregory, according to the outlet, with multiple platforms in the running to acquire the series.
Hot Air will be directed by Deadpool 2 director David Leitch and written by Paddington 2 screenwriter Jon Croker.
The source material tells the wild tale of Virgin Airways, which Branson founded in 1984. Specifically, the book details how Virgin became one of the world’s top airlines after surviving an attempted smear campaign at the hands of British Airways, which tried using its staffers to impersonate Virgin employees to gain information about the airline and, ultimately, get them to switch to British Airways.
In the end, Branson sued British Airways and ultimately won, forcing them to pay Virgin’s legal costs plus damages. In 1999, Branson sold a 49% stake in Virgin Airways to Singapore Airlines, a sale valued at more than $1.4 billion.
More recently, Branson made headlines for becoming the first billionaire to travel to space. In July, the 70-year-old launched the Unity 22 mission on Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo VSS Unity. Branson vowed to start commercial flights with paying customers in later in 2022.
Hot Air marks Garfield’s second consecutive television project, following Under The Banner of Heaven, which premiered in April on FX on Hulu. In the series, Garfield plays Detective Jeb Pyre, investigating the murder of a Mormon mother and her baby daughter that seems to involve the Mormon church.
In a statement to E! News after receiving his Emmy nomination, Garfield said called the series “a reminder of the danger of fundamentalism, extremism and of the fragility of precious individual freedoms in the face of tyranny. May this cautionary tale remind us of our responsibilities to each other: to live and let live with love and respect.”
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