According to Variety, Hulu recently released a 10 episode miniseries following a satirical and semi-inaccurate retelling of Catherine The Great’s rise to power in 18th century Russia. Written by Tony McNamara (The Favourite), all 10 episodes of The Great were released on Hulu on May 15, starring Elle Fanning (Maleficent) as Catherine and Nicholas Hoult (Skins) as Peter. The comedy begins with Catherine’s arrival in Russia to wed the hotheaded and cruel Emperor Peter, who begins to disappoint his wife-to-be in every imaginable way, which results in her plan to overthrow him.
Elle Fanning describes the show as having a lot of dark and witty writing attached to it, “It’s so fun to play with, but you have to get the tone right…And I think it was so important for us – the whole cast is so gifted dramatically and comedically – so we are able to go back and forth and walk that tightrope.” via Variety.
According to Variety, Fanning’s debut as an executive producer for TV series began with The Great. Growing up in the TV industry, she expresses her passion and respect for behind the scenes production.
“There’s a lot of execs, and it’s a big production, so I was trying to get my voice heard,” she said, “You want to watch every edit, you want to listen to every music cue, you care about it so much when you’re with it from the very beginning.” via Variety.
Although its first season was just released, there have been talks of an eventual renewal, given that The Great executives initially pitched six seasons, via Decider.