SIMON Beaufoy’s latest screen project Trust will be broadcast over 10 weeks this spring on Sky Atlantic.

The Glusburn-born screenwriter has again teamed up with Danny Boyle and Christian Colson, with whom he created the multi Academy Award-winning movie Slumdog Millionaire.

The series, starring Donald Sutherland and Hilary Swank, tells the story of the kidnapping of oil fortune heir John Paul Getty III.

Beaufoy has written the script and acts as executive producer alongside Boyle and producer Colson. Danny Boyle has directed the first three episodes.

Born into a life of privilege and with one of the richest men in the world as his grandfather, Getty’s world was transformed at the age of 16 when he was kidnapped from the Piazza Farnese in Rome in summer 1973.

His grandfather at first refused to pay the ransom, so the kidnappers sent John Paul’s family an envelope with a lock of his hair and one of his ears, which had been sliced off.

The boy was released five months later, after a ransom of $2.2 million was paid.

In his screenplay for Trust, Beaufoy explores the lives of one of America’s wealthiest and unhappiest families.

The series is described as equal parts family history, dynastic saga and an examination of the corrosive power of money, exploring the complexities at the heart of every family, rich or poor.

Trust comes hot on the heels of Beaufoy’s latest big-screen project, the well-received Battle Of The Sexes, which portrayed the real-life 1970s feud between tennis players Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs.

Simon Beaufoy kicked off his film career with hit comedy The Full Monty, going on to achieve renown for adapting real-life stories into movies.