Robert Carlyle, Mark Addy and Lesley Sharp are returning for a “limited series”.
As the hunger for streaming content continues unabated it occasionally throws up a gem. Here, Disney+ are inhaling a dose of late-90s nostalgia and following up on the terrific British movie The Full Monty.
One of the BFI’s top twenty-five films of the 20th century, The Full Monty is a low-budget production that went all the way; topping the box office and garnering critical acclaim, the $3.5 million film grossed over $250 million.
It follows a bunch of unemployed former steel workers who turn to stripping in order to make some cash. Full of heart and with a fantastic soundtrack, the film stars a great ensemble cast; Robert Carlyle, Mark Addy, William Snape, Steve Huison, Tom Wilkinson, Paul Barber, Hugo Speer and Lesley Sharp all appear.
In the years since its release, the story has also lived on as a musical and a stage play.
Disney+
Now, writer Simon Beaufoy is returning to his characters in an eight-part television series.
The show will follow the gang as they “…navigate Sheffield and its crumbling healthcare, education and employment sectors, exploring the brighter, sillier and more humane way forward where communal effort can still triumph over adversity.”
Many of the original cast are confirmed to return, including Robert Carlyle, Tom Wilkinson, Mark Addy and Lesley Sharp. Alice Nutter is co-writing the series and it’s been developed by Searchlight Television and FX, produced by Little Island Productions.
Simon Beaufoy is also executive producing the show, along with Carlyle, original movie producer Uberto Pasolini and Lee Mason, Director of Scripted Content for Disney+. The directors are Andrew Chaplin and Catherine Morshead (No Offence).
Speaking about the show, Lee Mason says
“Twenty-five years ago Simon introduced us to a group of funny, fearless and resilient unemployed working-class men from Sheffield and the world fell in love with them,” said Mason.
“We’re therefore delighted to reunite the original cast for this brand-new series on Disney+, to catch up with these iconic characters.”
Meanwhile, writer Simon Beaufoy give us a hint of what to expect from the show:
“We’re chuffed to bits to get all the Monty Men back together again — now with a chaotic entourage of children, grandchildren, pets and assorted hangers-on — to see what life in Sheffield is like twenty-five 25 years on.”
If you want to catch the original, it’s currently streaming on Disney+. Here’s the trailer…
Filming is now underway on The Full Monty. We’ll keep you posted as further details emerge.