Tim Roth has signed onto a new Australian drama. The forthcoming Paramount+ Australian original Last King of the Cross needed a Hollywood star to help Cineflix Rights market the series to audiences outside of Australia where John Ibrahim is not quite a household name.
Producer Mark Fennessy ticked that box when he secured the services of Ian McShane. However the star of Deadwood and John Wick had to withdraw from Last King of the Cross due to health concerns.
Filling the gap is a very worthy replacement – Academy Award and Golden Globe nominee Tim Roth (Hateful Eight, Lie To Me, Sundown) who will now play the role of the lead antagonist, Ezra Shimpan.
Producer and Helium production company founder Mark Fennessy said: “It’s unfortunate that Ian is unable to join us and we wish him a speedy recovery.
“We are truly delighted that the super brilliant Tim Roth joins our cast as Ezra, and cannot wait to see him breathe life into yet another unforgettable character.”
Inspired by John Ibrahim’s best-selling autobiography, Last King of The Cross is the story of two brothers, Sam and John Ibrahim who organise the street but lose each other in their ascent to power.
The 10-part serialised drama tracks John Ibrahim’s rise from a poverty-stricken immigrant with no education, no money, and no prospects, to Australia’s most infamous nightclub mogul in Sydney’s Kings Cross – a mini-Atlantic City, barely half a mile long with every form of criminality on offer.
Last King of The Cross is currently filming in and around Sydney, and stars Lincoln Younes (Grand Hotel, Tangle, Barons) playing the lead character of John Ibrahim, as well as Callan Mulvey (300: Rise Of An Empire, Outlaw King), Tess Haubrich (Spiderhead, Alien: Covenant), Claude Jabbour (Eden, Stateless), Maria Tran (Truy Sat, Echo 8), Matt Nable (Riddick, Bikie Wars: Brothers In Arms) and Damian Walshe-Howling (Underbelly, Janet King).
Last King of The Cross cast also includes Wadih Dona, Setareh Naghoni, Wesley Patten, Jake Ryan, Tony Nikolakopoulos, Simon Elrahi, Robert Rabiah, Justin Rosniak and rising stars Allegra Monk and Malek Alkoni, who plays teen John.
Last King of The Cross is a Helium Pictures production for Paramount+ Australia with Cineflix Rights as the exclusive international distribution partner.