Sometimes, ideas languish for years and die with a whisper in Hollywood, but sometimes, just sometimes, they move along swimmingly. While negotiations were just announced last month, it appears that Guy Ritchie‘s new TV series for Showtime and Paramount+ has already begun production in London, with Tom Hardy, Pierce Brosnan, and Helen Mirren starring in the show (which has the working title of The Associate). According to a new press release from Paramount:
“Hardy will play Harry Da Souza, a professional conciliator on behalf of the Harrigan family, while Brosnan will play Conrad Harrigan, the head of a very successful Irish crime family based out of London for whom Harry works. Mirren will play Maeve Harrigan, Conrad’s wife and the Harrigan family matriarch.”
Jez Butterworth is also involved as an executive producer, hot off his excellent new C.I.A. thriller on Showtime and Paramount+, The Agency. Ronan Bennett also worked on that show, and has written for the new Day of the Jackal series and Michael Mann’s Public Enemies; he’ll produce Ritchie’s new show as well.
“Tom Hardy, Pierce Brosnan, and Helen Mirren are masters at their craft and we are honored to have them lead the cast for Guy Richie’s new global, original series,” said Chris McCarthy, Paramount Global Co-CEO and the President and CEO of SHOWTIME/MTV Entertainment Studios. “Guy, Jez Butterworth, and Ronan Bennett’s creative prowess, coupled with these gifted actors, is the perfect recipe for what we believe will be the next brand defining series for Showtime on Paramount Plus.”
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Guy Ritchie and Tom Hardy’s New Series Is Not a Ray Donovan Spin-Off
The logline for the show reads as follows:
An electrifying, new global crime series centered around two warring families based in London whose enterprises stretch all corners of the globe and the fiercely loyal “fixer” charged with protecting one of them at all costs.
As MovieWeb previously reported, “Guy Ritchie’s The Associate was once envisioned as a spin-off of the hit Showtime series Ray Donovan, which ran for seven seasons and starred Liev Schreiber as a professional “fixer” who mediates between celebrities and wealthy clients, arranging all manner of bribes, payoffs, threats, clean-ups, and various other illegal activities. According to Variety, things have now changed, and The Associate has instead “been reworked into a standalone series with no connections to that franchise.”
Ray Donovan was a classic Showtime series, so it would’ve made sense if Ritchie’s new show was a spin-off. Either way, Showtime has been producing some very high-quality stuff ever since their close partnership with Paramount+, and judging by the massive success of Ritchie’s last TV series, The Gentlemen, this new Tom Hardy show should be yet another feather in their cap.
“The firepower on and off the screen in this new Guy Ritchie crime series will deliver exactly what audiences expect from Paramount + with Showtime: high-caliber acting, high-impact storylines, and high-level production from some of the best in the business,” said Jeff Grossman, Executive Vice President of programming for Paramount+. Watch this space for more information about the show.
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