Andrew Garfield Will Play Virgin Airways Founder Richard Branson in New Series HOT AIR From Director David Leitch

Andrew Garfield (The Amazing Spider-Man) is set to star in a new limited series project titled Hot Air in which he will play famous British entrepreneur Richard Branson. John Wick, Bullet Train, and Deadpool 2 director David Leitch is also going to helm the series, which will be a different kind of project for him because this isn’t an action thriller.

The six-episode series was written by Jon Croker (Paddington 2), and it’s based on the book Dirty Tricks by award-winning investigative journalist Martyn Gregory. It tells the story of billionaire Branson and the fascinating, outrageous rise of Virgin Airways.

Branson launched Virgin Atlantic in 1984 with one leased airplane. By 1990, the company started to threaten British Airways’ dominance in the UK market after getting landing slots at London Heathrow Airport. In response, BA launched a “dirty tricks” campaign, with its staffers using passenger records and impersonating Virgin employees to try to gain inside information on the upstart competitor and persuade Virgin customers to switch to BA.

Tipped off by a BA insider, Branson complained to the European Commission about BA’s tactics. In response, BA created “Operation Barbara,” planting fabricated negative media stories about Virgin Atlantic. Branson sued, and the high-profile case was settled on the eve of the trial, with BA apologizing and paying Virgin’s legal costs plus damages.

Branson continued to grow the airline, one of dozens of business in his portfolio. In 1999, he sold a 49% stake to Singapore Airlines on over GBP1.2 billion valuation.

If you’re interested in behind-the-scene business drama, this is definitely an interesting story, one that will make for a great and entertaining series.

Garfield recently landed an Emmy nomination for his role in FX’s limited series Under the Banner Of Heaven. Hot Air will be yet another great project for the actor, and I’m sure he’ll be great in the role of Richard Branson.

Source: Deadline

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