Andrew Garfield will play Virgin Atlantic billionaire Richard Branson in Hot Air limited series
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Andrew Garfield is heading into Virgin territory.
The Spider-Man: No Way Home and Tick, Tick… Boom actor is set to portray billionaire entrepreneur Richard Branson in the upcoming limited series Hot Air, EW has learned.
The series is based on investigative journalist Martyn Gregory's book Dirty Tricks, which chronicled a massive scandal in the early '90s in which British Airways attempted to ruin Branson's airline, Virgin Atlantic.
Launched in 1984, Virgin Atlantic sought to reignite the glamor and excitement of air travel, making itself everything its competitors weren't. The U.K.'s largest airline, British Airways, saw the powerful potential of Virgin and embarked on a secret mission to destroy the brand.
Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic; Mike Marsland/WireImage Andrew Garfield; Richard Branson
BA launched a "dirty tricks" campaign in which spies hacked into Virgin's computers and impersonated Virgin employees, calling staff members to obtain information on them. The team would even reach out to Virgin passengers and try to persuade them to switch their flights.
Branson eventually found out about the plot and sued, leading to a high-profile court case that forced British Airways to pay Virgin almost £3 million in damages.
The six-part limited series is set to be directed by David Leitch, known for his films Atomic Blonde, Deadpool 2, Hobbs & Shaw, and the upcoming Brad Pitt movie Bullet Train.
Garfield was recently nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie for his role in FX's Under the Banner of Heaven.
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