Hollywood is racing to make a film about the downfall of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor with Netflix, Amazon and Disney all in the race to turn the former prince’s misfortune into a cinematic payday.
A source at Disney Studios told the Daily Mail: ‘We have been bombarded with screenwriters wanting to bring this story to us. The race is on in Hollywood to be the first studio to bring out an Andrew film.’
The disgraced former prince has not been charged with any crimes but is ‘under investigation’ on suspicion of misconduct in public office. He was taken into custody early in the morning of Thursday February 19 and released later that day.
The scenes of his arrest and release – captured, hollow-eyed and mouth agape in the flash of a Reuters photographer’s lens – were seen around the world. And Hollywood has taken note.
Now the Daily Mail has learned that Netflix is considering a one-off special of The Crown after last week’s dramatic arrest.
The streaming service, which aired six seasons of its critically acclaimed show about the royal family, is in advanced talks with the show’s creator for a limited series about the former prince’s spectacular downfall.
Last night a source told Daily Mail: ‘The events of last week are historic and unprecedented.
‘There have been discussions for some time with Left Bank Pictures, which owns the rights to The Crown, for a series of one-off specials about royal scandals and dramas.
The scenes of Andrew’s arrest and release – captured, hollow-eyed and mouth agape in the flash of a Reuters photographer’s lens – were seen around the world
Now the Daily Mail has learned that Netflix is considering a one-off special of The Crown (pictured) after the dramatic arrest
‘The Crown as a series has ended but the name will live on. There have been advanced talks about doing a limited series, under The Crown banner, about the Andrew saga which is as dramatic, if not more dramatic, than anything shown in the original series which included episodes on the abdication and the death of Diana.’
Screenwriter Jeremy Brock wrote Amazon MGM Studio’s 2024 three-part drama A Very Royal Scandal starring Michael Sheen and Ruth Wilson with BBC Newsnight’s Emily Maitlis as executive producer.
Wilson played Maitlis whose 2019 interview with Andrew hastened his exit from public royal duties.
In the interview, which the former Duke of York reportedly believed had gone well, he notoriously claimed to have no recollection of meeting Virginia Giuffre.
He said he was medically incapable of sweating and defended his friendship with Epstein noting that the connections and opportunities that came from it were ‘actually very useful.’
Now, Mr Brock tells the Daily Mail: ‘Netflix and Amazon executives are 100 per cent talking about making a drama based on Andrew’s continued downfall.
‘There will be writers and producers scribbling away right now because it’s such great drama and the most extraordinary story.
‘There are so many elements in this unfolding drama: Andrew, the Royal Family, the police who had to tread so very carefully in arresting him, Epstein’s victims and his powerful friends. How does this affect Beatrice and Eugenie? It’s like every daughter’s idea of hell.’
Ruth Wilson (left) played Emily Maitlis (right) whose 2019 interview with Andrew hastened his exit from public royal duties
Ruth Wilson as Emily Maitlis in A Very Royal Scandal. In Maitlis’s interview, which the former Duke of York reportedly believed had gone well, he notoriously claimed to have no recollection of meeting Virginia Giuffre
‘How does this affect Beatrice and Eugenie? It’s like every daughter’s idea of hell’
Brock has already been contemplating his own version.
The award-winning screenwriter who wrote Mrs Brown, The Last King of Scotland and Charlotte Gray, said: ‘I’d call it “Silence”, because that’s what Epstein’s money bought him and that’s what the Royal Family traditionally does – say nothing. But it’s not working for them now.
‘It has all the elements of a Greek tragedy with Andrew as the anti-hero. If you pull away all the vestiges of soft power that Andrew possessed – his royal title, his influence – then you look at him pictured in the back of the car leaving the police station this week and it’s just another middle-aged man looking devastated.
‘It’s sad but his tragedy is going to be turned into our entertainment. ‘If I was asked I’d absolutely want to write this.’
