‘Sexy Beast’ Prequel Among Offerings in Paramount Plus International Scripted Slate (EXCLUSIVE)

variety.com:

Manori Ravindran International Editor“Sexy Beast” is back, and it’s part of a slate of six international scripted originals heading to Paramount Plus, Variety can reveal.The long-simmering “Sexy Beast” prequel series has evidently been resuscitated for the streamer after being scrapped for Paramount Network in 2020.The U.K.-originated show, based on the cult classic film of the same name, centers on the characters of Gal Dove and Don Logan (originally played by Ray Winstone and Ben Kingsley, respectively) as they descend into London’s criminal underbelly during the volatile 1990s.Paramount Plus describes the series as “a love story between two men — à la Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.” It’s produced by Chapter One and VIS, with showrunner Michael Caleo (“The Sopranos”) attached.

Also heading to Paramount Plus out of the U.K. is an adaptation of the Amor Towles novel “A Gentleman in Moscow,” written by “All Creatures Great and Small” scribe Ben Vanstone.Based on the best-selling novel by Towles, the drama series tells the story of Count Rostov who, in 1922, finds himself stuck in Moscow and on the wrong side of history.

The Communist Party agrees to let him live but he’s never allowed to set foot outside the Metropole Hotel until the day he dies.

The show is co-produced by VIS and Entertainment One.Meanwhile, from Germany, Paramount Plus has greenlit “Simon Beckett’s The Chemistry of Death,” a psychological crime series based on Beckett’s bestselling novels, which follow forensic anthropologist Dr.