Danny Boyle and Christian Colson Kevin Winter/Getty Images
'Trust,' which kicks off with John Paul Getty III's infamous 1973 disappearance, gets a 10-episode limited series order.
Danny Boyle's overall deal with FX is finally paying off. The Oscar-winning director of Slumdog Millionaire will executive produce and direct a 10-part limited series about the famously rich and dysfunctional Getty family.
The true crime nature of the project comes in the midst of a wildly successful run of The People V. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story. The miniseries is currently the No. 2 show on cable, outrated by only The Walking Dead, and earning lingering rave reviews. The story of the Gettys, as featured in Trust, is a bit more of a period piece. The first season focuses on John Paul Getty III's infamous mafia kidnapping, and eventual ear removal, in 1973.
"Trust charts the young man’s nightmare ordeal at the hands of kidnappers who cannot understand why nobody seems to want their captive back," reads the colorful synopsis. "The Italian police think it’s a prank and decline to investigate. Paul’s father is lost in a heroin daze in London and refuses to answer the phone. Paul’s grandfather — possibly the richest man in the world — is marooned in a Tudor mansion in the English countryside surrounded by five mistresses and a pet lion. He’s busy. Only Paul’s mother is left to negotiate with increasingly desperate kidnappers. Problem is, she’s broke."
It's not immediately clearly if Boyle will direct the entire run, but he will direct the first installment of the FX Productions, Cloud Eight Films, Decibel Films and Snicket Films Limited production. His Slumdog Millionaire and 127 Hours collaborator Simon Beaufoy is penning the screenplay. (Christian Colson joins Boyle and Beaufoy as executive producer.)
“Simon, Danny and Christian have done a magnificent job of telling the story of the Getty family empire and its tumultuous history with Trust,” said FX Networks and FX Productions original programming president Eric Schrier. “Simon’s script wonderfully dramatizes the notorious and bizarre kidnapping of J. Paul Getty’s grandson. It’s the perfect way to open this limited series, allowing us to see how three generations, including one of the world’s richest men, clash when family, fortune and reputation are in jeopardy.”
Trust was developed under Boyle and Colson's first-look deal that FX inked back in 2014. Prior to that, Boyle had developed a WWII drama with the cable network.
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