Paramount+ Finds Yellowstone Replacement With Scotland-Set Kenneth Branagh Series
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Paramount+ is developing a brand-new series with Kenneth Branagh that will serve as a Scottish replacement for Yellowstone.
The Oscar winner's filmography is long and varied, with acting roles in movies like Much Ado About Nothing, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Murder on the Orient Express, Oppenheimer and The Devil Wears Prada 2, and directing credits on Hamlet, Thor, Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, Death on the Nile and A Haunting in Venice, among many others.
The streamer just announced that Branagh will star in a new Scotland-set series called Laird and serve as an executive producer. The show takes place in the modern Scottish Highlands, where the titular Laird of Castle Drummoch, played by Branagh, disobeys an American billionaire who's determined to buy the glens. Branagh's character goes into protection mode to ensure that the ancestral lands stay in their current condition. Family feuds, shocking secrets and romance will be woven throughout the series as well.
Jane Wiseman, the head of originals at Paramount+, described Laird as being about "one man standing his ground against unchecked wealth and power," with Paramount Television Studios President Matt Tunell adding that the family at the center of the series will go to great lengths to "protect their land and legacy."
MobLand showrunner Jez Butterworth created Laird with John-Henry Butterworth and Georgia Lee. Branagh's fellow executive producers are the Butterworths, David C. Glasser, Joe Wright, Ron Burkle, David Hutkin, Bob Yari, Charles Finch and Keith Cox. Wright is also on board as director of the pilot episode.
As it's still in the early stages of development, a premiere date for Laird has not been announced yet.
More to come...