STARZ ANNOUNCES “MARY & GEORGE” PREMIERE ON APRIL 5 AND RELEASES SEDUCTIVE KEY ART AND TRAILER

Academy Award-Winner Julianne Moore And Nicholas Galitzine Reign Supreme In Upcoming Historical Psychodrama

Santa Monica, Calif. – Feb 1, 2024 — STARZ sets April 5th premiere date for its highly anticipated, audacious psychodrama “Mary & George” and releases seductive key art and trailer starring Academy Award-winner Julianne Moore (Still Alice) and Nicholas Galitzine (Red, White & Royal Blue). “Mary & George” is set to debut on Friday, April 5 at midnight on the STARZ app. On linear, it will debut on STARZ at 9:00 PM ET/PT in the U.S. and 10:00 PM ET/PT in Canada.

The seven-part limited series is inspired by the scandalous true story of a treacherous mother and son who schemed, seduced and killed to conquer the Court of England and the bed of King James I.

As previously announced, Julianne Moore plays Mary Villiers, Countess of Buckingham, who in 17th century England molded her beautiful son, George, to seduce King James I and become his all-powerful lover. Through outrageous scheming, the pair rose from humble beginnings to become one of the richest, most titled and influential players the English court had ever seen, and the King’s most trusted advisors. Nicholas Galitzine plays her son, George Villiers, a naïve romantic who alongside his ruthless mother was prepared to stop at nothing to get to the top and prove to himself that he can be defined by more than just his beauty and make his mark on history. Tony Curran (“Mayflies”) stars as King James I, whose desire to be loved and subservient to ambitious and beautiful young men, makes him dangerously at risk of being exploited by tyrannical lovers to the likes of Mary & George.

The ensemble cast includes Nicola Walker (“The Split,” “Unforgotten”) as “Lady Hatton,” Niamh Algar (The Wonder, “Malpractice”) as “Sandie,” Trine Dyrholm (“The Legacy,” Queen Of Hearts) as “Queen Anne,” Sean Gilder (“Sherwood,” “Slow Horses”) as “Sir Thomas Compton,” Adrian Rawlins (Living, “Chernobyl”) as “Sir Edward Coke,” Mark O’Halloran (The Miracle Club, “The Virtues”) as “Sir Francis Bacon,” Laurie Davidson (“Masters of the Air,” “Guilty Party”) as “Earl of Somerset,” Samuel Blenkin (“Atlanta,” “The Witcher: Blood Origin”) as “Prince Charles”, Jacob McCarthy (“SAS: Rogue Heroes,” The Tragedy of Macbeth) as “Kit Villiers,” Tom Victor (“Consent”) as “John Villiers,” Alice Grant (Anthem at Almeida Theatre) as “Susan Villiers,” Amelia Gething (Emily, “The Amelia Gething Complex”) as “Frances Coke,” Mirren Mack (“The Nest,” “The Witcher: Blood Origin”) as “Katherine Villiers,” Rina Mahoney (“Happy Valley,” “Cobra”) as “Laura Ashcattle” and Simon Russell Beale (The Death of Stalin, The Outfit) as “George Villiers.”

“Mary & George” is produced by Hera Pictures in association with Sky Studios. The series is written by D.C. Moore (“Killing Eve,” “Temple”), inspired by Benjamin Woolley’s nonfiction book The King’s Assassin. Liza Marshall is executive producer for Hera Pictures alongside D.C. Moore, Oliver Hermanus and Julianne Moore . Hermanus (Living, Moffie) also helms the series as lead director. Additional directors include Alex Winckler (“Somewhere Boy,” “This Way Up”) and International Emmy-Award winner Florian Cossen (“Deutschland 86,” “The Empress”). Sam Hoyle serves as executive producer for Sky Studios.
 

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About STARZ
STARZ (www.starz.com), a Lionsgate company, is a leading media streaming platform committed to delivering premium content that amplifies narratives by, about and for women and underrepresented audiences. STARZ is home to the highly rated and first-of-its-kind STARZ app that offers the ability to stream or download STARZ premium content, as well as the flagship domestic STARZ® service, including STARZ ENCORE, 17 premium pay TV channels, and the associated on-demand and online services. STARZ is available across digital OTT platforms and multichannel video distributors, including cable operators, satellite television providers, and telecommunications companies. In February 2021, STARZ launched #TakeTheLead, a multi-faceted and innovative inclusion initiative expanding its existing efforts to improve representation on screen, behind the camera and throughout the company.
 

About Sky Studios
Sky Studios is the home of Sky Original Drama and Comedy. We develop, commission and produce unmissable programming for Sky’s customers across Europe. Our teams partner with the best indies and talent globally, to drive creative excellence and tell original stories that are loved by audiences the world over. Our Sky Originals include Emmy-nominated hit, Gangs of London, BAFTA-winning comedy, Brassic, Mary & George, starring Julianne Moore, The Day of the Jackal, with Eddie Redmayne and Lashana Lynch, M. Son of the Century, directed by Joe Wright and Small Town, Big Story, created by Chris O’Dowd.

Alongside Sky Original Comedy and Drama, Sky Studios is home to an in-house Factual development and production team, and some of the world’s most exciting production companies including Blast! Films, True North and Love Productions.

We also operate Sky Studios Elstree, the UK’s newest film and TV studio with 13 sound stages, representing a significant investment in the UK and European creative economy.
 

About Hera Pictures
Founded in 2017 by former Channel 4 Head of Drama Liza Marshall, Hera Pictures is a fully independent production company established to produce bold, high-end, authored drama for a global audience.

The company’s first series, TEMPLE, an eight-part drama starring Mark Strong, was Sky 1’s most successful drama of 2019 and chosen as one of the top TV shows of 2020 by The New York Times. The second season launched to critical acclaim in 2021. Two-part true crime drama HONOUR starring Keeley Hawes and written by Gwyneth Hughes launched on ITV in 2020. Based on the case of murdered 20-year-old Banaz Mahmod, the drama was a chilling reminder of how society failed to protect a young woman from harm.

Hera’s adaptation of Megan Hunter’s THE END WE START FROM starring Jodie Comer went on general release in the UK January 2024. Adapted by writer Alice Birch (NORMAL PEOPLE) and directed by Mahalia Belo (THE LONG SONG, ELLEN) the film premiered at TIFF and the LFF to glowing reviews and 9 BIFA nominations.

Pre-production has begun on upcoming BBC Three/iPlayer series WHAT IT FEELS LIKE FOR A GIRL, adapted by Paris Lees from her anarchic memoir of the same name, and a soon to be announced true crime drama will be in production summer 2024. Hera is producing a film adaptation of Maggie O’Farrell’s multi award-winning novel HAMNET with Academy Award winning Chloe Zhao (NOMADLAND) attached to direct and the company recently announced it had secured the rights to The Whalebone Theatre, Joanna Quinn’s bestselling debut novel. Published in 2022 by Fig Tree in the UK and Knopf in the US, it went straight into the bestseller lists in both countries and sold into a further 14 territories worldwide.

https://www.hera-pictures.com/