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11 months ago
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EXCLUSIVE: Game of Thrones star Kit Harington is producing a TV thriller described as a “very British Western,” about a hotshot who discovers his family is running a drugs racket.
Empire of Dirt [working title] is being produced by Harington and Top Boy scribe Daniel West’s Thriker Films with Des producer New Pictures. Cast is unconfirmed and Harington could yet play the lead.
The eight-part thriller follows Jake, a big name in the big city who reluctantly returns to his family farm in the Lake District for a distant cousin’s wedding.
He hasn’t been home for 15 years but following a tragic accident finds himself the unwilling head of his family, before discovering the unthinkable, that his father had been running a multimillion-pound drugs racket from a hidden corner of his family land.
Harington and West said the show, which doesn’t have a network or distributor attached but has funding from its associate developer All3Media International, is a “very British Western, set against the Lake District’s stunning visual backdrop.”
“The Galloways are a family fighting to survive, wrestling with their identity, trauma and the burden of inheritance, as ancient traditions collide with the mores of modern Britain,” they added.
New Pictures CEO Willow Grylls said the show is “thrilling, dangerous and fun, but always with a searing emotional core.”
Harington’s Thriker production vehicle was also behind BBC hit Gunpowder, which counted Harington as lead and West as EP. Harington just wrapped Village Roadshow, Macro and BK Studios movie Eternal Return. Last week, he opened up for the first time about how the fame he achieved while playing Jon Snow in HBO smash Game of Thrones caused him to struggle with mental health issues and alcoholism.
All3Media-owned New Pictures’ recent credits, meanwhile, include David Tennant-starring ITV hit Des, George Kay’s The Long Shadow and BBC/Netflix musical drama series Champion.
Empire of Dirt is developed in association with All3Media International.
