Jude Law cast as Bill Shankly in A24 series from Adolescence writer Jack Thorne

Jude Law has been cast as Bill Shankly in a new television drama that will chronicle the legendary manager’s transformation of Liverpool Football Club, it was confirmed on Tuesday. The series is written by Jack Thorne — the acclaimed screenwriter behind Netflix’s Adolescence — and produced by A24 alongside Box To Box Films.

Shankly managed Liverpool for 15 years, guiding the club from the old Second Division to three First Division titles, two FA Cups, four Charity Shields and one UEFA Cup before his retirement in 1974. He passed away in 1981. The show will explore that era through what Liverpool chairman Tom Werner describes as a story about “family and relationships through the lens of a football club.”

Werner, who spoke to Deadline — which first reported Law’s casting — drew an ambitious comparison for the project’s potential longevity. “My feeling is, if you do nothing more in that first episode than show 50,000 people singing You’ll Never Walk Alone, I defy anyone who won’t be moved by that one scene,” he said, adding that he believes the series could follow the club beyond Shankly’s reign in future seasons, much like The Crown.

Law, a BAFTA winner and two-time Oscar nominee, is 53 and — somewhat against the grain for this project — is a supporter of Tottenham, one of Liverpool’s Premier League rivals. Filming is set to take place in Liverpool and at Anfield.

Shankly’s granddaughter Karen Gill is involved in the production. “I think it’s a wonderful way to share the story of my grandad’s time at LFC,” she said. “This is going to be a must watch for all Liverpool fans and it’s a privilege to have the chance to showcase his story to the wider world.”

Thorne said the show aims to go beyond football. “Our goal is to focus not just on the club, but on the city itself — because, and this is one thing Bill Shankly made sure, the club belongs to the city and the city belongs to the club,” he said. “We have a chance with this show to celebrate both a magnificent football club and a magnificent city, whilst being honest about the struggles of the 1960s and 1970s in one of our industrial heartlands.”