Andrew Garfield Playing Richard Branson In New Miniseries Hot Air

Andrew Garfield, Richard Branson

by James White |
Published on

Here's the sort of story that sounds like it could have been generated by Madlibs – Andrew Garfield is on board to star as Richard Branson in a limited series called Hot Air scripted by Paddington 2 co-writer Jon Croker and directed by Deadpool 2's David Leitch.

Croker has adapted investigative journalist Martyn Gregory's book Dirty Tricks, which chronicled the corporate battle between Branson's Virgin Atlantic and British Airways.

As Virgin began its initial meteoric rise, securing slots at Heathrow, BA launched a campaign of utilising passenger records and impersonating staff to gain insider information.

In response, Branson went to the European Commission, but instead of pulling back, the competition upped their game, creating "Operation Barbara", which planted negative stories about Virgin in the press. Branson took it to the courts, and a settlement was figured out just before the trial, with BA apologising and paying damages plus costs.

As visions of Garfield as Branson punching out BA executives before offering them marmalade sandwiches dance in our heads, we'll have to wait and see where this one lands – it's out to the big streaming companies right now.

Garfield, of course, has scored an Emmy nomination for his work on Mormon murder miniseries Under The Banner Of Heaven, which wrapped up last month on Disney+ here.

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