Andrew Garfield will portray British businessman and billionaire Richard Branson in the limited series Hot Air, which is being made by Universal International Studios. David Leitch, who is best known for directing Deadpool 2 and the Fast and Furious spinoff Hobbs and Shaw, will serve as the show’s director.
Jon Croker, who previously worked on the writing for Paddington 2, will pen the six episodes of the limited series. The series’ plot will revolve around Branson, the ascent of Virgin Airways, and the struggle he experiences as a result of British Airways’ attacks against him. The show will be based on Martyn Gregory’s book, Dirty Tricks: British Airways’ Secret War Against Virgin Atlantic.
Branson established his business in 1984, and it immediately became well-known. In the 1990s, rival British Airways started using dishonest tactics against Virgin Atlantic in response to the company’s rapid growth. These tactics included attempting to obtain insider information and mounting a smear campaign using false information until Branson filed a lawsuit. With such an intriguing backstory, Hot Air might be a captivating and thrilling series for viewers to watch.
Garfield has previously been nominated for two Academy Awards for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role for both Hacksaw Ridge, directed by Mel Gibson, and Tick, Tick… Boom!, directed by Lin-Manuel Miranda, in addition to his most recent Primetime Emmy nomination. Although he played Spider-Man in The Amazing Spider-Man series from 2012 to 2014, the actor is best remembered for his portrayal of the superhero again in the multiverse crossover movie Spider-Man: No Way Home with Tom Holland and Tobey Maguire. Hot Air, which has Leitch in charge of the project and Garfield at its core, has the potential to be a fascinating in-depth examination of Branson’s conflict with British Airways.
Along with Leitch, Kelly McCormick, Dan Seligmann, Babak Anvari, and Lucan Toh of Two&Two, as well as Michael Grade, Peter Gerwe, and Ivan Dunleavy of StoryFirst, Garfield and Croker will be executive producing the show. No release date has been announced because the series is currently in its early stages of production.