Original cast will reunite for 8-part series, produced by Little Island

The Full Monty cast

Disney+ is reuniting the original cast of the 1997 comedy hit The Full Monty for a limited series based on the film.

The UK original series will follow the original troupe 25 years later as they navigate post-industrial Sheffield and society’s crumbling healthcare, education and employment sectors. The series will explore the ‘brighter, sillier and more humane’ way forward where communal effort can triumph over adversity.

Robert Carlyle, Mark Addy, Lesley Sharp, Hugo Speer, Wim Snape, Paul Barber, Steve Huison and Tom Wilkinson will all reprise their roles from the film, with a new cast of faces as their children and grandchildren.

Writer and creator Simon Beaufoy – whose screenplay for the film was nominated for an Academy Award – will also return along with producer Uberto Pasolini.

It was commissioned by Lee Mason, director of scripted content for Disney+, in conjunction with FX. Beaufoy will share writing duties with Alice Nutter and will exec produce alongside Pasolini and Mason. Simon Lewis is series producer and it is directed by Andrew Chaplin.

Little Island Productions, which is responsible for Sky’s Patrick Melrose, Channel 4’s Indian Summers and Starz’ The White Princess, will produce the 8 x 60-minute series. It was developed by Searchlight Television and FX and filming starts today in Sheffield and Manchester. 

“We’re chuffed to bits to get all the Monty Men back together again – now with a chaotic entourage of children, grandchildren, pets and assorted hangers-on – to see what life in Sheffield is like twenty-five years on,” said Beaufoy.

Mason added the show revolved around a group of iconic characters. “Twenty-five years ago Simon introduced us to a group of funny, fearless and resilient unemployed working-class men from Sheffield and the world fell in love with them,” he added.

It will air on Disney+ globally, Star+ in Latin America and Hulu in the US.

The streamer intends to create 60 local productions by 2024 as part of its commitment to source, develop and produce original productions in Europe. Disney boss Bob Chapek has previously stated the importance of local productions to the streamer’s global growth.

Disney+ to create Indian adaptation of Blood

India’s Disney+ Hotstar service is to adapt Sophie Petzal’s Irish thriller Blood, after striking a deal with All3Media International. Reliance Entertainment’s content studio Dreamers & Doers Co will produce the drama about a fractured family, which was originally commissioned by Virgin Media Ireland and aired on Channel 5 and Acorn TV in the US.

Gurmmeet Singh is the showrunner, with Mihir Desai directing. Company Pictures and West Road Pictures have produced two series of Blood.

Disney+ Hotstar was behind Indian Luther adaptation Rudra: The Edge of Darkness which aired earlier this month.

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