Andrew Garfield, who is currently on a break from acting, has found his next project. In the upcoming limited series Hot Air, Garfield will play British entrepreneur Richard Branson. The series will be directed by David Leitch (Deadpool 2, John Wick, Atomic Blonde). Hot Air has no set release date, but according to Deadline, several major networks and streaming services are competing for the rights.
Hot Air is being produced by Universal International Studios, with Jon Croker (No One Gets Out Alive, Paddington 2) writing the six-episode miniseries. Hot Air has based on Martyn Gregory’s book Dirty Tricks: British Airways’ Secret War Against Virgin Atlantic.
The book follows the rise of Richard Branson’s Virgin Atlantic airline and his bitter feud with British Airways, which used unethical tactics to derail Virgin, such as impersonating airline employees, hacking computers, and convincing customers to switch to BA. When Virgin complained to the European Commission about BA’s nefarious schemes, the airline launched “Operation Barbara,” releasing a dossier full of false claims about its business, which resulted in negative media coverage.
In 1992, Branson sued BA for libel, but the case was settled a month before the trial, and BA was forced to issue a public apology for its “dirty tricks” campaign.
Andrew Garfield Is On An Acting Hiatus
Andrew Garfield is one of the few actors to receive Emmy and Academy Award nominations for best actor in a leading role in the same year. Garfield starred as playwright Jonathan Larson in Netflix’s tick, tick…BOOM! and in FX’s true crime thriller Under the Banner of Heaven. He also played Jim Bakker in Tammy Faye’s The Eyes of Tammy Faye. In addition, he misled fans for two years about his involvement in Spider-Man: No Way Home, which he admits was “weirdly enjoyable.”
But it appears that all the attention got to Garfield, and he’s decided to take a break from acting. In April, he told Variety the following:
“I am going to take a break. I’m going to rest for a little bit. I need to recalibrate and reconsider what I want to do next and who I want to be and just be a bit of a person for a while. Because as you know, that is a washing machine, that awards season. I need to just be a bit ordinary for a while.”
Garfield is willing to reprise his role as Spider-Man if the studio asks, but it’s a long shot. However, Hot Air will most likely be his first project when he returns, and with David Leitch currently preoccupied with multiple high-profile films, it appears we’ll have to wait a couple of years to see Andrew Garfield’s portrayal of Richard Branson.
