Preston Barta // Features Editor
As Seth Rogen and Jay Baruchel said in the 2007 comedy KNOCKED UP: “VOLCANO, DANTE’S PEAK.” — “WYATT EARP, TOMBSTONE.” Similar projects have popped up throughout the history of cinema. Although, in the case of ALL THE MONEY IN THE WORLD and TRUST, one is a film and the other is television mini-series.
Because the true story of the 1973 kidnapping of John Paul Getty III, grandson of billionaire oil tycoon J. Paul Getty, is so – excuse the pun – rich with material, perhaps it’s better to shape it into something more than just a two-hour movie. A 10-episode TV event, starring Donald Sutherland, Hilary Swank and Brendan “Dude! Where the hell have you been?!” Fraser, with director Danny Boyle and writer Simon Beaufoy (the team behind SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE and 127 HOURS) attached… Well… OK then.
Now controversy aside, ALL THE MONEY IN THE WORLD, starring Michelle Williams, Mark Wahlberg and Christopher Plummer, was a super solid thriller that tapped into the Shakespearean-like drama that was going on within the Getty family, along with supplying an intense kidnapping story. After watching the series trailer for FX’s TRUST, I immediately was comparing and contrasting the two. Moments such as J. Paul Getty (Sutherland) having house guests use pay phones to make calls – when he could probably afford to pay for all of England’s phone bill alone – and telling the press he “won’t pay a cent” to have his grandson (Harris Dickinson of BEACH RATS) returned to his family safely, all check the same boxes as Ridley Scott’s ALL THE MONEY IN THE WORLD. But what drives me more towards Boyle’s take is how its eccentric style mirrors the craziness of its story. The series looks like it snorted a line of coke (there’s a shot of that in the trailer) and stepped into a hard-hitting drama story. Not only that, but the cast is quite impressive and the dialogue cracks like an electric fever. So… color me excited.
Check out the trailer and FX’s official show details below.
About the Show:
“TRUST delves into the trials and triumphs of one of America’s wealthiest and unhappiest families, the Gettys. Equal parts family history, dynastic saga and an examination of the corrosive power of money, Trust explores the complexities at the heart of every family, rich or poor.
Told over multiple seasons and spanning the twentieth century, the series begins in 1973 with the kidnapping of John Paul Getty III (Harris Dickinson), an heir to the Getty oil fortune, by the Italian mafia in Rome. His captors banked on a multi-million-dollar ransom. After all, what rich family wouldn’t pay for the return of a loved one?
Paul’s grandfather, J. Paul Getty (Donald Sutherland), an enigmatic oil tycoon and possibly the richest man in the world, is marooned in a Tudor mansion in the English countryside surrounded by a harem of mistresses and a pet lion. He’s busy. Paul’s father, J. Paul Getty Jr. (Michael Esper), is lost in a daze in London and refuses to answer the phone. Only Paul’s mother, Gail Getty (Hilary Swank), is left to negotiate with the increasingly desperate kidnappers. Unfortunately, she’s broke. Trust charts the teenage grandson’s nightmare ordeal at the hands of kidnappers who cannot understand why nobody seems to want their captive back.
The cast also includes Brendan Fraser, Anna Chancellor, Norbert Leo Butz, Charlotte Riley and Luca Marinelli.
TRUST is created by Simon Beaufoy. Danny Boyle has directed the first three episodes. Executive Producers are Christian Colson, Beaufoy and Boyle. The show is produced by FX Productions, Cloud Eight Films, Decibel Films and Snicket Films Limited.”
TRUST premieres on FX on Mar. 25.
