BBC Two Picks Up Getty Family Drama ‘Trust’ Starring Donald Sutherland & Hilary Swank
BBC Two has acquired ‘Trust‘, the ten-part series star-packed drama from the Academy Award-winning ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ team of Danny Boyle, Simon Beaufoy and Christian Colson, about the kidnapping of John Paul Getty III, heir to the Getty oil fortune.
Trust stars Donald Sutherland (‘The Hunger Games’) as J. Paul Getty Senior, the oil tycoon and art collector at the head of the Getty family, alongside a stellar cast that includes Hilary Swank (‘Million Dollar Baby’), Brendan Fraser (‘The Mummy’), Harris Dickinson (‘Beach Rats’), Anna Chancellor (‘Ordeal By Innocence’), Charlotte Riley (‘Peaky Blinders’), Amanda Drew (‘Broadchurch’) and Sophie Winkleman (‘Peep Show’).
“I am tremendously excited that Trust is coming to BBC Two,” commented Patrick Holland, Controller of BBC Two. “The series has the unique scale, singular vision and extraordinary swagger that only Danny Boyle, Simon Beaufoy and Christian Colson can bring.”
Trust opens in 1973 with the kidnapping of John Paul Getty III (Dickinson), heir to the Getty fortune, in Rome. His captors bank on a multi-million dollar ransom, but back in England Paul’s wealthy grandfather (Sutherland) refuses to pay up. With Paul’s father (Michael Esper) lost in a drug-induced daze, it is left to Paul’s mother – the penniless Gail Getty (Swank) – to negotiate with both the increasingly desperate kidnappers and her stubborn former father-in-law to save her son.
Trust examines the corrosive power of money and explores the complexities at the heart of every family, rich or poor.
“Trust is bold storytelling, made with verve, style and ambition,” adds Sue Deeks, Head of BBC Programme Acquisition. “The Getty family have captured the public’s imagination like few others, and there is no better team to reimagine their story for television than the award-winning trio of Danny Boyle, Simon Beaufoy and Christian Colson. We’re very excited to bring this compelling new series to BBC Two.”
Those of you that are regular readers of the site might remember ‘Trust’ was originally picked up by Sky Atlantic. However, for reasons which are not exactly clear, they came to an agreement with Twentieth Century Fox Television Distribution not to air the show in the UK and Germany, and BBC Two swooped it on the rights.
‘Trust‘ will premiere in the UK exclusively on BBC Two later in 2018. The series is created by Simon Beaufoy and executive produced by Danny Boyle, Beaufoy and Christian Colson, with Boyle directing the first three episodes.
