When Andrew Garfield was first announced for Under the Banner of Heaven, the miniseries was instantly pegged as a potentially huge awards player. And that has turned out to be true, with Garfield earning his first Emmy nomination for his performance. Now Garfield finds himself attached to another project that is giving off similarly critical vibes. Deadline reports Garfield will star as entrepreneur Richard Branson in limited series, Hot Air.
Garfield will Branson, the famous British entrepreneur and philanthropist, in the six-episode series about Branson’s launch of Virgin Airways and his battle with British Airways. On the script is Paddington 2 writer Jon Croker, based on the book Dirty Tricks by investigative journalist Martyn Gregory.
Here’s where things get weird. Hot Air will be directed by…David Leitch? Ummmm what? That’s right; the Deadpool 2, Atomic Blonde, and Bullet Train filmmaker is taking the camera for this one. Is there secretly a car chase and Branson battle royale that nobody is telling us about? This seems like a weird fit but I’m interested in seeing Leitch brand out.
Garfield isn’t cause for concern, though. He’s shown multiple times, including last year’s The Eyes of Tammy Faye, that he can be a chameleon in front of the camera. He’s coming off an incredible run that not only includes the Emmy nomination, but an Oscar nomination for tick tick BOOM and a return as Peter Parker in Spider-Man: No Way Home.