Sky and HBO have announced that Academy Award winner Marisa Tomei (Spider-Man, The Wrestler and The Mongoose), Emmy winner Kelly Macdonald (Lanterns, Boardwalk Empire, Dept Q.), and BAFTA-nominated David Harewood (Sherwood, The Night Manager, Homeland) will lead the next case in the returning legal drama WAR, alongside Emmy Award winner Richard Schiff (Clemency) as series two begins filming, ahead of series one launching later this year.
WAR is a bold legal drama following two of London’s most prestigious rival firms – Cathcarts and Taylor & Byrne – as they go head-to-head in a series of headline-making legal battles. Each side is certain they’ll win. But as cases spiral and loyalties fracture, reputations are on the line, and everyone’s playing to win.
Created by George Kay (Hijack, Lupin, The Long Shadow), WAR is coproduced by New Pictures (Catherine the Great, Gone) and Kay’s Observatory Pictures (Gone), in association with Sky and HBO.
Series one, which wrapped filming in February, will debut later this year with a high-profile divorce case between tech titan Morgan Henderson (Dominic West) and international film star Carla Duval (Sienna Miller), sending shockwaves through boardrooms, bedrooms and courtrooms alike.
Series two will see rival law firms Cathcarts and Taylor & Byrne take on an explosive defamation case.
Marisa Tomei stars as Avery Reed and Kelly Macdonald as Jo MacNeil, alongside David Harewood as Jefferson Allen, and Richard Schiff as Elliott Wyatt. Joining them are Claire Skinner, Omari Douglas, Kadiff Kirwan, Douglas Booth, Charles Edwards, Luca Pasqualino, Rebecca Front, Alexandra Maria Lara, Linus Roache, Violet Braeckman, Sasha Behar, Sid Phoenix, Cornelius Booth and Megan Channell.
George Kay is lead writer, with additional episodes written by Kelly Jones, Jess Brittain, Catherine Shepherd, Yemi Oyefuwa and Krissie Ducker. The series’ lead director is Ben Taylor (Sex Education, Catastrophe).
Previously announced series regulars include Phoebe Fox (The Great, Task) as Serena Byrne and James McArdle (Playing Nice, Mare of Easttown) as Nicholas Taylor, partners in life and business at Taylor & Byrne; Nina Sosanya (Screw, Baby Reindeer) as “Her Majesty” Beatrice “Queen Bea” Ubosi and Pip Torrens (Succession, The Crown) as St John Smallwood, their counterparts and fierce rivals at Cathcarts; and Archie Renaux (Alien: Romulus, Upgraded) as ambitious lawyer Jonathan “Johnny” Warren, and Emma Laird playing Molly Giodano alongside, Nick Mohammed, Akiya Henry, Honor Swinton Byrne, Miles Jupp, Kartanya Maynard, Alexandra Mardell, and Steve Furst.
WAR is co-produced by New Pictures (an All3Media company) and Observatory Pictures, in association with Sky and HBO. The series is created, written and executive produced by George Kay, alongside Golden Globe and BAFTA Award-nominated executive producers Willow Grylls (Gone, The Missing) and Imogen O’Sullivan (Champion) for New Pictures, Ben Taylor (Sex Education, Catastrophe), Susan Breen (The Woman in the Wall, Bad Sisters) and Megan Spanjian for Sky. The lead director is Ben Taylor and the series producer is Matt Carver.
WAR will air on Sky and streaming service NOW in the UK, Ireland and Italy, and on Sky and WOW in Germany, Switzerland and Austria. It will air on HBO and HBO Max in the US, and stream on HBO Max in Australia and Asia. International sales of the series will be handled by NBCUniversal Global TV Distribution.
