Hulu has released a teaser trailer for its upcoming series The Great, a satirical, comedic drama about the rise of
Catherine the Great from outsider to the longest-reigning female ruler in Russia’s history.
The show, from “The Favourite” writer Tony McNamara, features Elle Fanning and Nicholas Hoult as Catherine the Great and Emperor Peter. According to the official synopsis, “Season One is a fictionalized, fun and anachronistic story of an idealistic, romantic young girl, who arrives in Russia for an arranged marriage to the mercurial Emperor Peter. Hoping for love and sunshine, she finds instead a dangerous, depraved, backward world that she resolves to change. All she has to do is kill her husband, beat the church, baffle the military and get the court onside”.
The series, described as “a very modern story about the past which encompasses the many roles she played over her lifetime as lover, teacher, ruler, friend, and fighter,” also stars Phoebe Fox, Adam Godley, Gwilym Lee, Charity Wakefield, Douglas Hodge, Sacha Dhawan, Sebastian de Souza, Bayo Gbadamosi and Belinda Bromilow.
The song used in the trailer is Nikolai Budashkin’s “Fantasy On Two Folk Songs,” performed by Osipov State Russian Folk Orchestra.
The Great premieres May 15, only on Hulu.
