Brendan Fraser (The Mummy, Trust) will star in the series The Professionals, an adaptation of the action movie Soldiers of Fortune, together with Tom Welling (Smallville) and Elena Anaya (Wonder Woman) for Scandinavian SVOD Viaplay, Deadline reports. The cast includes Saïd Taghmaoui (John Wick 3), Ken Duken (Inglorious Basterds), Lisa Loven Kongsli (Force Majeure) and August Wittgenstein (Das Boot).
The 10-part series, produced by Jeff Most (The Crow, The Specialist), follows the counterintelligence officer Captain Vincent Corbo (Welling), who investigates the attack on the billionaire Swann (Fraser) and his fiancée Dr. Davila’s medical satellite. The team of professional investigators realizes that Swann’s business competitors, an obscure crime syndicate, and corrupted government officials could be behind the attack and continue to pose a threat.
“This is the kind of television that couldn’t be more timely or topical as it imagines billionaires using their wealth to deploy private military units to achieve their political and business goals,” said Jeff Most.
Howard Cohen and Eric d’Arbeloff (Roadside Attractions) added, “We could not be more thrilled about the cast and creative team behind The Professionals. This is the second series, the first being Lionsgate TV’s Dear White People on Netflix, that we’ve helped bring to television based on one of Roadside’s theatrical releases.”
Managing director of TM International Herbert L. Kloiber said “With this incredible international cast, this is the kind of action series that has enormous global appeal and we have already seen interest for The Professionals overseas. We are very excited about the way this series has come together and are looking forward to strong activity from now on up until Mipcom.”
Fredrik Ljungberg, from Viaplay, added, “Given where we are with the privatization of corporate space exploration and with the world-class production companies and marquis named cast involved on The Professionals, this series had all the outstanding elements that made this an excellent programming choice for the team at Viaplay.”
The first three episodes will be directed by Bharat Nalluri (Spooks: The Greater Good). Producer and writer Michael Colleary will be the series’ showrunner and head writer together with Katy Most, Lwazi Manzi and Aoife O’Sullivan who will produce together with co-producers Kim Williams and Natalie McAuley. Jessica Smith will serve as the associate producer. Jeff Most, Tristan Orpen Lynch, Cosima von Spreti, Michael Auret, Howard Cohen, Eric d’Arbeloff, and Jennifer Berman executive produce together with Herbert L. Kloiber, Thomas Augsberger, Daniel Wagner, Maxim Korostyshevsky, Bharat Nalluri, Fredrik Ljungberg, Brendan Fraser, Tom Welling, and Elena Anaya.
The show has begun filming in Ireland and South Africa.