ViacomCBS' forthcoming streaming service Paramount+ has made Armie Hammer an offer he couldn't refuse, as the actor has signed on to star in The Offer, a limited series about the making of the 1972 classic The Godfather.
Hammer will play the film's Oscar-winning producer Al Ruddy in the 10-episode event series, which hails from writer Michael Tolkin, who recently earned an Emmy nomination for Showtime's acclaimed limited series Escape from Dannemora starring Benicio Del Toro, Paul Dano and Patricia Arquette.
Tolkin previously chronicled Hollywood power moves in The Player, for which he received an Oscar nomination. He's a good fit for this particular project, which will be based on Ruddy's extraordinary experience making The Godfather with director Francis Ford Coppola.
Tolkin and Ruddy will both serve as executive producers alongside Nikki Toscano (Hunters) and Emmy winner Leslie Greif (Hatfields & McCoys). Production is expected to start next year, when CBS All Access will be rebranded as Paramount+ and introduced to major markets such as Australia and Latin America.
Hammer recently starred in the disappointing streaming thrillers Rebecca and Wounds, and he'll soon be seen opposite Gal Gadot in Kenneth Branagh’s murder mystery Death on the Nile. I seem to have a love-hate relationship with Hammer's work, as I couldn't stand Free Fire, Mine, and Sorry Bother to You, but I loved Call Me By Your Name and Hotel Mumbai. For every The Lone Ranger and Mirror Mirror, there's a Nocturnal Animals or The Social Network on his resume. And I, too, would be down for a Man from U.N.C.L.E. sequel, which is one of his more underrated movies.
If actors were public companies, I'd buy stock in Hammer, who will soon be seen in Taika Waititi's soccer comedy Next Goal Wins and Nicholas Jarecki's opioid drama Dreamland with Gary Oldman. Hammer also just signed on to star opposite Mads Mikkelsen in Amma Asante's next movie The Billion Dollar Spy, and he'll soon begin filming Shotgun Wedding with Jennifer Lopez. Additionally, Hammer is slated to star in Sam Esmail's upcoming Watergate series Gaslit alongside Sean Penn and Julia Roberts, and in 2022, the actor will return to the stage in Tracy Letts’ play The Minutes. He's a busy boy to say the least, and I know he has no control over the final product, but here's hoping The Offer is worth his time.
Meanwhile, Jake Gyllenhaal and Oscar Isaac are set to star in another making-of-The-Godfather project from Oscar-winning director Barry Levinson, and you can click here for more on that indie film.