Andrew Garfield is set to star as Richard Branson in the new limited series, Hot Air.
According to Deadline, the show includes six episodes based on the book Dirty Tricks by investigative journalist Martyn Gregory, and tells the story of Branson, the British billionaire who founded Virgin Airways in 1984. Gregory’s book follows British Airways’ bid to take down Virgin Airways in the early 90s, which fast became rivals.
Among British Airways’ attempts to destroy Virgin Airways included hacking into the enemy’s computers, pretending to be Virgin employees, and trying to gain personal information from staff. The scandal led to a lawsuit, which ended in British Airways paying Virgin almost £3 million in damages.
The show will be helmed by Deadpool 2’s David Leicht, with screenwriter Jon Croker and Garfield set to executive produce with 87North, Two&Two, and StoryFirst. The Universal International Studios show is reportedly being shopped to different streaming platforms.
Garfield recently found himself a nominee for his second Oscar for Best Actor in tick, tick… BOOM!, with the film also being nominated for Best Editing. He landed his first Emmy nomination for Under the Banner of Heaven for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie, and recently returned to his role as Peter Parker in Spider-Man: No Way Home.