From the Academy Award®-winning team of Danny Boyle, Simon Beaufoy and Christian Colson, and starring Donald Sutherland and Hilary Swank, TRUST tells the rebellious story of the kidnapping of John Paul Getty III, heir to the Getty oil fortune.
The 10-part series will be available exclusively on Sky Atlantic respectively across the UK, Ireland, Italy, Germany and Austria this spring. It has been developed by FX and distributed by Twentieth Century Fox Television Distribution.
Inspired by actual events, 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 series and spanning the twentieth century, Trust 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 multimillion dollar ransom. After all, what rich family wouldn’t pay for the return of a loved one? Paul’s grandfather, J. Paul Getty Sr. (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.
Trust is written by Simon Beaufoy (Academy Award® winner for Best Adapted Screenplay for Slumdog Millionaire). It is executive produced by Danny Boyle (Academy Award® winner for Best Directing for Slumdog Millionaire), Simon Beaufoy and Christian Colson (Academy Award® winning producer of Slumdog Millionaire), with Boyle directing the first three episodes. The show is produced by FX Productions, Cloud Eight Films, Decibal Films and Snicket Films Limited.
The series stars Emmy® and Golden Globe® winner Donald Sutherland (The Hunger Games series), as J. Paul Getty, the two-time Academy Award® and Golden Globe® winner Hilary Swank (Million Dollar Baby) as Gail Getty, and Michael Esper (A Beautiful Mind) as J. Paul Getty Jr. Harris Dickinson (Some Girls) plays J. Paul Getty III, J. Paul Getty’s teenage grandson. Brendan Fraser (The Mummy) plays J. Paul Getty’s private investigator, James Fletcher Chace, and Anna Chancellor (The Hour) plays J. Paul Getty’s confidant Penelope Kittson. The cast also includes Norbert Leo Butz, Charlotte Riley and Luca Marinelli.
Trust was acquired for Sky from Twentieth Century Fox Television Distribution by Lucy Criddle, Sky’s Head of Acquisitions Series. The series will also be available on streaming service NOW TV in the UK and Ireland.
