EXCLUSIVE: Jude Law might be a Tottenham Hotspur fan but he’s potentially heading to Anfield for his next role.
The Black Rabbit star is set to star as legendary Liverpool FC manager Bill Shankly in a series from Adolescence writer Jack Thorne and A24.
The soccer club revealed in 2024 that it was working with the Beef and Margo’s Got Money Troubles producer A24 and Drive To Survive producer Box To Box Films on the project.
The series will chart Shankly’s rise, helping the club achieve promotion from the old Second Division before winning three First Division Championships, two FA Cups, four Charity Shields and the UEFA Cup. Set against the vibrant backdrop of Liverpool’s 1960s with the boom of music and culture, the drama will explore a pivotal period in the club’s history, charting its journey from a team struggling to a global powerhouse with now over 400 million followers across the world, and recognized as one of the most renowned sporting institutions.
Tom Werner, best known for producing series such as Roseanne, The Cosby Show and Netflix’s recent A Different World reboot, has been Chairman of Liverpool FC since 2010.
He told Deadline that he believes the series could become like The Crown. “It’s a story about family and relationships through the lens of a football club,” he said.
Shankly, or Shanks as he was commonly known, became Liverpool manager in December 1959. He was also responsible for “You’ll Never Walk Alone” being its anthem. He stepped down in 1974 after winning the 1974 FA Cup and died seven years later at the age of 68.
“Bill Shankly understood that it wasn’t just about finding the best talent on the team. It was about forging a connection with a fan base, and the reason that Liverpool is so special to me, besides the fact that you could say it’s got a billion fans worldwide, is that the relationship between the club and its supporters is really unique. If we can articulate that in a mini-series that starts with Bill Shankly and continues through its journey, we can touch on things like the Beatles,” he added.
Shankly’s granddaughter Karen Gill, who is the author of The Real Bill Shankly, is also involved in the project, which will be filmed in Liverpool and at Anfield, the club’s longtime home.
Werner added that, in success, the second batch of episodes would touch on the Hillsborough disaster, the deadliest disaster in British sporting history that saw 97 people die and over 750 injured as Liverpool played Nottingham Forest at the Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield in 1989.
Thorne, himself a Liverpool fan, has written the first two episodes, and Werner and his team have begun talks with broadcasters and streamers. “My feeling is, if you do nothing more in that first episode than show 50,000 people singing “You’ll Never Walk Alone”, I defy anyone who won’t be moved by that one scene,” he added.