AMC has partnered with BBC Worldwide to co-produce McMafia, an eight-episode adaptation of Misha Glenny’s best-selling book of the same name.
McMafia follows Alex Godman (to be played by Happy Valley‘s James Norton), the English-raised son of Russian exiles with a mafia history. Having spent his life trying to escape the shadow of that criminal past, Godman builds his own legitimate business and forges a life with his girlfriend Rebecca (The Knick’s Juliet Rylance). But when his family’s past murderously returns to threaten them, he is drawn into the criminal world and forced to confront his values to protect those he loves. As one does.
The cast also includes David Strathairn (Good Night, and Good Luck), Aleksey Serebryakov (Leviathan), Maria Shukshina (Yolki 3) and Faye Marsay (Game of Thrones).
“McMafia is simply one of those shows that comes along at exactly the right moment,” AMC development chief Joel Stillerman said in a statement. “Misha Glenny’s book reminds us that underneath the headlines of today what we used to think of as organized crime is something completely different…. The creative team behind McMafia has brilliantly used the essence of this source material to write a compelling and relevant piece of television.”
