Ewan McGregor leads new 1920s drama series ‘A Gentleman in Moscow’
Best-selling novel A Gentleman in Moscow is being adapted for television by the writer of All Creatures Great and Small.
Written by Amor Towles (The Lincoln Highway, Rules of Civility), the hit 2016 book has sold over 4 million copies worldwide.
The UK-based TV adaptation is being produced by Paramount+ and Showtime.
Ewan McGregor will lead the cast as Count Alexander Rostov who, in the aftermath of the Russian Revolution, finds that his gilded past places him on the wrong side of history.
The Moulin Rouge star commented: “It’s an amazing, wonderful story and I am very excited to get to play such a fabulous role.”
McGregor is also an executive producer, alongside author Amor Towles, Mrs Harris Goes to Paris producer Xavier Marchand, and War & Peace director Tom Harper.
Harper said: “The book is a rare and delicious treat and I fell in love with it the moment I picked it up six years ago. We are thrilled that Amor entrusted this brilliant team with bringing the Metropol to life and couldn’t be more delighted that Ewan will be playing the Count.”
Also on the creative team is All Creatures Great and Small showrunner Ben Vanstone, who has written the scripts for A Gentleman in Moscow.
A Gentleman in Moscow begins filming in England this autumn.
The official synopsis reads: “Spared immediate execution, Count Alexander Rostov is banished by a Soviet tribunal to an attic room in the opulent Hotel Metropol, threatened with death if he ever sets foot outside again.
“As the years pass and some of the most tumultuous decades in Russian history unfold outside the hotel’s doors, Rostov’s reduced circumstances provide him entry into a much larger world of emotional discovery. As he builds a new life within the walls of the hotel, he discovers the true value of friendship, family and love.”
The series is expected to premiere in 2023 on Showtime in the US, and on Paramount+ in the UK and internationally.
All Creatures Great and Small returns on Channel 5 very soon with a third season, before airing in the US next year.
Amor Towles’ novel A Gentleman in Moscow is available on Amazon.