Brian Cox plans Andrew Carnegie film series

Carnegie, a Scottish-born immigrant to the United States, became the second-richest man in the world during the steel industry boom at the end of the 19th century.

The industrialist and activist, whose vast steel business contributed to America’s growing military power, then gave away almost his entire fortune through numerous philanthropic ventures, including the funding of over 3000 public libraries worldwide.

Dundee born Cox is now developing a project about the tycoon.

He is working with Sonita Gale of Galeforce Films, producer of Edinburgh Film Festival documentary Andrew Carnegie: Rags to Riches, Power to Peace, which was narrated by Cox.

Galeforce have now optioned David Nasaw’s 2007 biography of Carnegie and intend to turn the story into a feature or TV series.

A screenwriter has yet to be attached but the production team will meet potential collaborators, including Borgia writer-producer Tom Fontana, in a bid to develop the idea further.

“Our intention was always to first test the waters and make a documentary,” Sonita Gale told Screen Daily.

“We’re now developing a miniseries and a feature film. If we get a strong American co-producer and a good writer this is definitely a story that can be seriously put to the screen.”

Cox, who starred in The Bourne Supremacy and recent NBC mini-series The Slap, wants the project to become a mini-series.

“I don’t think a feature could really serve [Carnegie]. I want to do a six-part series,” he said.

“Carnegie’s always been an ambiguous hero of mine, [a series] could be pretty phenomenal, it’s something I’d like to do while I’m still of an age to do it.”

The actor aims to star in the project: “I would hopefully play [Carnegie] from his 50s onwards. Someone else should play the younger man,” he said.

The Galeforce documentary will be broadcast on BBC Scotland in August.

Cox, 69, was the first actor to portray Hannibal Lecter on film in the 1986 movie Manhunter.

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