Paramount+ Brings Laird to London, and MobLand Gets a Third Season
Peter Sarsgaard and Kenneth Branagh came to London to sell a new Paramount+ drama, and the event also brought fresh news about a series already on the air. Sarsgaard, Branagh and executive producer David Glasser spoke at the Paramount UK upfront, the annual pitch event where broadcasters and streamers show buyers and advertisers what they plan to release next.
The show is Laird, a family drama set in the Scottish Highlands. The Hollywood Reporter reports that Sarsgaard plays a malevolent American billionaire who wants to take land from the character played by Branagh. Glasser runs 101 Studios, the company behind the series.
Glasser also used the stage to talk about MobLand, the crime drama that Paramount+ has already renewed, meaning the platform has ordered a third season. He teased the new run with a single line: "Someone will challenge [Tom Hardy]." Hardy leads the show as the head of a London crime family.
Hardy's return was confirmed earlier this year. Paramount+ says Pierce Brosnan and Helen Mirren are also set to come back for Season 3, which places both of them in the cast alongside Hardy. Paramount+ has not published a premiere date for the new season.
The London event had a star-studded feel without a red carpet. Samuel L. Jackson and David Beckham sent video messages, and Kelly Reilly, who also stars in MobLand, appeared live. The panel gave the audience a look at how the company plans to fill its schedule, with one British family drama and one returning crime hit.
For viewers, the news is simple. MobLand is coming back for another season, and Laird is on its way to Paramount+ with a cast that includes two Hollywood names and a Scottish setting. Neither show has a confirmed release date, so the wait continues for now.
Paramount+ is one of several streaming services competing for the same audiences, and each one now holds events like this to show its plans. For the crews behind these shows, the upfront is where a plan becomes a commitment. A renewal means more scripts, more sets and more jobs for the people who build them, and a new series means a fresh team to hire.
