We first heard that there would — or at least could, given the capricious nature of creating movies and TV these days — be a Sexy Beast prequel series back in 2018. After a false start at one network, it has had a home at Paramount+ and has truly moved along, since the cameras are rolling in Liverpool. We now know that Stephen Moyer, James McArdle and Emun Elliott are all starring.
Jonathan Glazer's 2001 film, written by Louis Mellis and David Scinto, followed Gal Dove (Ray Winstone), an ex-criminal who had moved to Spain with his wife DeeDee (Amanda Redman) to start a new life, and Don Logan (Ben Kingsley), an old criminal associate who aggressively recruits him for a heist job on behalf of crime lord Teddy Bass (Ian McShane). The film is best remembered for cracking work from all involved and, shall we say, a volcanic torrent of swearing, particularly from Kingsley, who scored an Oscar nomination for his performance.
In the series, McArdle is playing Gal, while Elliott will be attempting to inhabit Don. Moyer, meanwhile, is Teddy Bass.
Taking over the DeeDee role is Normal People's Sarah Greene, while Tamsin Greig is playing Don's formidable older sister Cecilia. The ensemble also includes Eliza Bennett, Clea Martin, Nicholas Nunn, John Dagleish, Robbie Gee, Paul Kaye, Lex Shrapnel, Cally Lawrence, David Kennedy, Nitin Ganatra, and Alice Bailey Johnson.
The story here will find Gal and Don when they were closer friends (and small time thieves) in 1990s East London, their connection put to the test when Gal finds himself descending further into the seductive madness of the London criminal world. Michael Caleo is the show-runner, while Scinto and Mellis are executive producers and Daniel O'Hara directs several of the episodes. Notable by his absence is Glazer, though he'll probably have a producer credit somewhere.
"I feel so fortunate to be able to explore these beautifully crafted characters a decade before we met them in the original story," Caleo said in a statement. "This series has been a great passion of mine for many years and I cannot wait to see it come to life with this amazing cast."