Peter Morgan's Patriots To Receive Film Adaptation

Peter Morgan's Putin period drama Patriots is likely getting a film adaptation, per Deadline.

According to sources close to the writer, Morgan is now prioritizing a screen version for Netflix of Patriots, which recounts the story of Vladimir Putin's rise to power after the fall of the Soviet Union. Billionaire Boris Berezovsky supports Putin's political ascent until it threatens his own reign, sparking near-Shakespearean conflict between the two men.

The play is currently running on Broadway at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre, where it opened April 22. The work premiered in 2022 with a sold-out run at London's Almeida Theatre, where Goold serves as artistic director, before transferring to the Noël Coward Theatre for a West End engagement. Netflix is a producer of the Broadway bow, and Deadline says that arrangement included a commitment to making a screen version.

On Broadway, original London cast member Will Keen is reprising his Olivier-winning performance as the tyrannical autocrat in question, Vladimir Putin, alongside Michael Stuhlbarg (The Pillowman) as Boris Berezovsky. The Broadway production also features Luke Thallon as Roman Abramovich, Stella Baker as Marina Litvinenko, Ronald Guttman (Coastal Disturbances) as Professor Perelman, and Alex Hurt (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof) as Alexander Litvinenko.

The cast also includes Rosie Benton (The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Stick Fly) as Berezovsky’s Mother, Jeff Biehl (Machinal) as Teacher and FSB Boss, Peter Bradbury (The Shark is Broken, Hangmen) as Voloshin and Nurse, Camila Canó-Flaviá (Network) as Tatiana and Nina Berezovsky, Marianna Gailus as Katya, Paul Kynman as Korzhakov and Yeltsin, Adam Poss as Lawyer and Home Office, and Nick Rehberger (Fiddler on the Roof, The Glass Menagerie) as Assistant and Kahneman.

Understudies for the production include Benjamin Bonenfant, Danielle Chaves, Joe Forbrich, and Tony Ward (The Audience, Twelfth Night/Richard III).

The Patriots creative team also includes set designer Miriam Buether, co-costume designers Deborah Andrews and Miriam Buether, lighting designer Jack Knowles, sound designer and composer Adam Cork, movement director Polly Bennett, and projection designer Ash J Woodward. Casting is by Jim Carnahan. TT Partners is the production's general manager.

The producing team includes Netflix, Sonia Friedman Productions, Nederlander Presentations, Richard Winkler, Stephanie P. McClelland, Ted Snowdon, Jamie deRoy/Ken Greiner, and Richard Batchelder.

Visit PatriotsBroadway.com.