Ewan McGregor to Star in Drama Series ‘A Gentleman in Moscow’ for Paramount+ Internationally, Showtime in U.S.

Georg Szalai
·2 min read
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Ewan McGregor (Star Wars franchise, Halston, Trainspotting) will lead the cast of upcoming Paramount+ U.K. drama series A Gentleman in Moscow, an adaptation of Amor Towles’ best-selling novel, which is set to commence production later this year and will debut in the U.S. on Showtime and on Paramount+ internationally.

The show, produced by eOne in association with VIS, the international studio unit of Paramount Global, will see McGregor play Count Alexander Rostov “who, in the aftermath of the Russian Revolution, finds that his gilded past places him on the wrong side of history,” according to a plot description. “Spared immediate execution, he 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.”

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McGregor, who is also executive producer on the series, said: “It’s an amazing, wonderful story, and I am very excited to get to play such a fabulous role.”

A Gentleman in Moscow is written by showrunner and executive producer Ben Vanstone (All Creatures Great and Small, The Last Kingdom). It is the first production to come through eOne’s first-look deal with Tom Harper’s company Popcorn Storm Pictures. Harper (War and Peace, Peaky Blinders) will also executive produce with Xavier Marchand (Nautilus, Mrs Harris Goes to Paris) and Towles.

David Nevins, chairman and CEO, Paramount Premium Group and chief creative officer Paramount+ scripted series, shared the casting news at the Edinburgh TV Festival on Thursday morning.

“Since its release, the novel has sold over 4 million copies worldwide and counts Barack Obama, Tom Hanks and Ann Patchett among its high-profile fans,” the companies highlighted.

“The book is a rare and delicious treat, and I fell in love with it the moment I picked it up six years ago,” Harper said. “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.”

The series is part of Paramount+’s strategy to commission 150 international originals by 2025. It will debut on the streamer in 2023 in the U.K. and all international markets where the service is available. “A Gentleman in Moscow is one of the first original dramas commissioned in the U.K. that will debut across Paramount+ internationally, with additional series including The Flatshare, Sexy Beast, No Escape and The Burning Girls,” the company said.

McGregor is represented by UTA, Narrative and Sloane Offer Weber & Dern.

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