HBO Nabs Helen Mirren to Lead Miniseries About Catherine the Great
HBO is planning another lavish TV series that will focus on Russia's Catherine the Great. The network nabbed Dame Helen Mirren to lead the show.
The miniseries, also titled "Catherine the Great," is in collaboration between HBO and Sky in the U.K. There will be four episodes planned for this special presentation, which will begin production later this year.
Nigel Williams ("Elizabeth I") will write the script for "Catherine the Great" with Philip Martin ("The Crown") as the director. Mirren and Martin will also serve as executive producers alongside Origin Pictures' David M. Thompson and New Pictures' Charlie Pattinson.
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"I am very excited by the possibility of embodying a woman from history who grabbed and then wielded great power," the actress stated in announcing the miniseries. "She rewrote the rules of governance by a woman, and succeeded to the extent of having the word 'Great' attached to her name, Catherine the Great."
Thompson said Mirren approached him to help develop "Catherine the Great" on the small screen as early as 2015. He's glad that the project is finally taking off with HBO's involvement.
The miniseries will air on Sky Atlantic and the NOW TV streaming service in Ireland, U.K. and Europe in early 2019. HBO will broadcast the show in North America but there is still no specific air date.
Mirren is no stranger to playing a royal on the screen. She played Elizabeth Tudor in the miniseries "Elizabeth I" and won the Oscars for her role as Queen Elizabeth II in the 2007 film "The Queen."
The actress has Russian blood flowing through her veins as well. Her paternal grandfather, Col. Pyotr Vasilievich Mironov, served the Imperial Russian Army before becoming a diplomat in Britain.
Catherine the Great became the ruler of Russia from 1762 to 1796 after the death of her husband Peter II. The Empress made Russia a formidable presence in Europe during her reign.
