One of the things which I will NEVER get behind is “making a movie or a series about something that just happened.” People were literally trying to put together a movie about Harvey Weinstein like two seconds after he was outed as a predator. Brexit was literally still happening and being adjudicated when a British company made a TV movie about Brexit Svengali Dominic Cummings starring Benedict Cumberbatch. Well, British channel Sky Atlantic has decided that what everyone needs is a “coronavirus drama” about Boris Johnson. They’ve cast Kenneth Branagh as BoJo and while I hate-respect the quality facial prosthetics they gave Branagh, this is CURSED.

Kenneth Branagh is unrecognizable as he transforms into Boris Johnson for new coronavirus drama “This Sceptred Isle.” The 60-year-old actor will play the British Prime Minister in the new Sky Atlantic drama. The five-part series will chart the events surrounding the Prime Minister, the government, and the country in the face of the first wave of the global pandemic.

Kenneth’s casting as Bojo was first announced last month, and now the first look image of him as the PM shows his utter transformation into the 56-year-old politician. Kenneth has swapped his neatly trimmed brown hair for Boris’ trademark wild blonde locks and prosthetics appear to have been used to give him more of Bojo’s facial features.

The series will be directed by Michael Winterbottom, who will also co-write, while Tim Shipman, the political editor of The Sunday Times, will act as a consultant. Winterbottom has co-written “This Sceptred Isle” with Kieron Quirke, and will direct all five episodes. The five-part drama begins with Johnson’s appointment as Prime Minister, before recounting from the first coronavirus cases in the UK — through to Johnson falling ill with the virus, and the arrival of his son.

[From The NY Post]

Winterbottom is no Tory apologist, which makes this project sort of interesting. I wonder if that’s why Branagh signed on too – the promise that this will be heavily critical of many of the choices Boris Johnson made in 2019 and 2020. But, again, the sh-t is STILL happening. Boris Johnson is still prime minister. We’re still dealing with a deadly pandemic (although by the time this is released, hopefully we won’t be). Britain will feel the effects of Brexit (plus the pandemic) economically for years and years. My point is that it’s probably way too soon to try to review this catastrophe. Also: I kind of wonder if Sussexit will be mentioned?

Say what you will, but Kenneth Branagh is still a very handsome man. How little ego he has to transform himself into a clownshow like BoJo.

No, you’re not seeing things. That’s Kenneth Branagh as U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson on the first day of filming This Sceptred Isle.

This Sky Original drama will be coming to your TVs in Autumn 2022… pic.twitter.com/WR1Ig4BVRU

— Sky TV (@skytv) February 25, 2021

Photos courtesy of Sky Atlantic, Avalon Red.