Show Snob
Fansided

Catherine the Great drama starring Elle Fanning coming to Hulu

By Ashley Weyler

facebooktwitterreddit

The series will cover the younger years of Catherine the Great, while HBO gears for one about her later years.

Hulu ordered the new drama series pilot for The Great starring Elle Fanning as Catherine the Great.

Fanning has quite large shoes to fill. The real Catherine the Great is one of the most famous Russian leaders in history, having ruled Russia from 1762 until her death in 1796. She is known for being independent, smart, and sexually liberated.

The Great will also include Nicholas Hoult, whom you know from Warm Bodies and About a Boy. Hoult will star as Catherine’s husband Peter, the emperor of Russia.

More from Hulu

You may be thinking: Isn’t there already a Catherine the Great series in the works? You would be correct.

HBO is currently working on a four-part limited drama series simply titled Catherine the Great.

Helen Mirren will star as Catherine, so obviously this series will take part in her later years. Jason Clarke will star opposite her as Grigory Potemkin, a commander in the Russian military and her lover and life-long friend.

Fanning has been heavily involved in the getting this project greenlit, so she will executive produce with executive produce.

For all of you non-history buffs, Catherine was actually born Princess Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst. She met the prospective tsar Peter of Holstein-Gottorp at the age of 10 through an arrangement of their parents. They married when she was 16.

Next. Pictures released from The Crown show Helena Bonham Carter as Princess Margaret. dark

The marriage wasn’t a happy one, with both having affairs and Peter’s temper. After only six months into his rule, she organized his overthrow and thus began her 34-year rule.

There’s no news for when this may air on Hulu, but my guess is sometime next year. Maybe it will serve as a precursor to the HBO series if they can get it finished in time.

Source: Deadline

Home/Hulu