For the last five weeks, the drama around Paramount+ crime drama MobLand has been about as intense as the drama in the show itself. This time last month, it looked like the Guy Ritchie and Jez Butterworth produced streaming hit was about to lose its star, with Hollywood’s trades reporting that Tom Hardy — who plays the series’ lead, mob fixer Harry Da Souza — was set to leave the series having finished filming the forthcoming Season 2 on less-than-friendly terms with production. Now however, Deadline is reporting that Hardy is back in his producers’ good books and will return for a potential MobLand Season 3 down the road.
According to Deadline, discussions and ‘outreach’ have been ongoing over the last month as Paramount’s top brass have sought to find a way to save their prized streaming cow. And, in the end, it was a meeting in London between Hardy, Jez Butterworth, and series executive producer David Glasser — as well as some peacekeeping/making involving Guy Ritchie — that eventually helped all involved parties find a positive, productive way forward. That several of Hardy’s co-stars and colleagues have been so vocal in their support of the series’ lead certainly won’t have hurt.
When asked by Variety last month whether she’d want to work with Hardy again, Helen Mirren, who plays Harrigan crime family matriarch Maeve in the show, said: “Absolutely. In a fucking heartbeat. I love Tom, I think he’s the most amazing actor. Different actors have different processes. I’ve learnt over the years that some people get to things faster. As long as what’s on the screen is fantastic, I’m totally chilled with however someone gets there. Tom is a very special person. I think he’s absolutely remarkable. My support of him is genuine and heartfelt.”
Now, it’s worth noting that MobLand Season 3 hasn’t been formally greenlit just yet, despite the public furore over the show’s future in recent weeks. Paramount has however opened a writers’ room for a third season, and given the success of Season 1, the lengths Ritchie, Butterworth, and creator Ronan Bennett have gone to already to branch out MobLand‘s world by the end of Season 1, and the fact Tom Hardy is believed to have a three-year contract already on the show, more MobLand now seems almost inevitable. So, all’s well that ends well!
