A prequel television series to classic crime drama Sexy Beast will stream on Paramount+. Here’s the trailer…
Writer and director Jonathan Glazer is currently enjoying a plaudits for his Holocaust drama The Zone Of Interest. Based on the 2014 novel by Martin Amis, it follows Auschwitz commandant Rudolf Hess and his wife as they try to build a life living next door to the concentration camp.
Chosen as the British entry for Best International Feature Film at the 96th Academy Awards, the film is due to be released in UK cinemas on the 2nd February.
Astonishingly, Glazer has only made four feature films in his career thus far – Sexy Beast in 2000, Birth in 2004, Under The Skin in 2013 and Zone Of Interest. Sexy Beast continues to have notable impact too, staying in the cultural conversation long after it was released. The film followed Ray Winstone as Gary ‘Gal’ Dove, a criminal who has retired to Spain with his wife DeeDee, played by Amanda Redman. London crime boss Teddy Bass, played by Ian McShane, sends violent enforcer Don Logan to convince Dove to take part in one last job for him.
We covered it on our podcast, here.
Glazer imbued the film with bright colours, with the now iconic shot of a sunburnt Ray Winstone relaxing by the pool.
However, what really made the film stick in the memory was the sharp script by writers Louis Mellis and David Scinto, and the terrifying performance of Sir Ben Kingsley as Logan. He doesn’t appear for a long while into the film, with other characters setting him up as somebody they’re all frightened of, and when he does eventually appear, his onscreen presence is magnetic, whether he’s spitting swear words with venom or delivering a threat with an ice calm demeanour.
The role rightly won Kingsley many awards, though he lost the Supporting Actor Oscar to Jim Broadbent in Iris.
A prequel television series was announced in 2022. The synopsis reads as follows:
The prequel series explores the early origins of Gal Dove (James McArdle) and Don Logan (Emun Elliott), and their complicated relationship. They find themselves descending into the seductive madness of the London criminal world during the vibrant and volatile 1990s, while Gal’s budding relationship with Deedee (Sarah Greene) threatens everything in their world.
The cast also includes Tamsin Greig, Stephen Moyer, Eliza Bennett, Clea Martin, Nicholas Nunn, Peter Ferdinando, John Dagleish, Robbie Gee, Paul Kaye, Lex Shrapnel, Cally Lawrence, David Kennedy, Julian Rhind-Tutt, Ralph Brown, Nitin Ganatra and Alice Bailey Johnson.
Glazer isn’t involved in the series, but writers Mellis and Scinto are credited as executive producers. Michael Caleo directed the series from scripts by Jennifer Cacicio, Ed McCardie and Tony Hamilton-Shannon.
Sexy Beast will stream on Paramount+ from the 25th January.
Watch the trailer below…
