Hot Air will dramatize the early days of Virgin Atlantic and how British Airways tried to stop them. 

News has broken that Andrew Garfield, fresh from his Emmy nomination for Under the Banner of Heaven, is to headline Hot Air.

Cast as the Virgin founder, Garfield will play the billionaire Sir Richard Branson in an adaptation of “Dirty Tricks”; the book, by investigative journalist Martyn Gregory, tells the story of Virgin Atlantic and their outrageous rise.

Starting with a single aeroplane in 1984, the Branson’s upstart airline grew to threaten British Airways’ dominance within six years, competing for landing slots at Heathrow Airport. In response, BA employed the dirty tricks of the title – they impersonated employees to gain insider information and tried to persuade customers away from their competitor.

Thanks to a tip-off, Branson complained to the European Commission about BA’s tactics. In response, BA created “Operation Barbara,” planting fabricated negative media stories about Virgin Atlantic. So, Branson then sued and the case was settled at the last minute. BA apologised and covered Virgin’s legal costs plus damages too – to the tune of £3.5 million!

It sounds like a perfect mix of real-life events and high-stakes drama to us… much like Pam and Tommy.

According to Deadline, multiple platforms are currently vying for the show. Universal International Studios are producing, with David Leitch (Deadpool 2) directing and Jon Croker (Paddington 2) adapting the book.

Croker and Garfield will executive produce with 87North (Leitch, Kelly McCormick and Dan Seligmann) and Two & Two (Babak Anvari and Lucan Toh); StoryFirst (Michael Grade, Peter Gerwe, and Ivan Dunleavy).

We’ll keep you posted on Hot Air.