Richard Gere will play a media baron in upcoming BBC drama “MotherFatherSon,” the Hollywood star’s first TV role in almost three decades. His character in the BBC Two series, Max, is a charismatic self-made American businessman who owns media outlets in London and around the world.

“It’s been almost 30 years since I worked in television,” the star of “Pretty Woman” said. “I’m so pleased to be working now with the BBC on this extraordinary eight-hour project with such talented people and which resonates so much [with] the time we live in.”

Gere joins Helen McCrory (“Peaky Blinders,” Harry Potter films) and Billy Howle (“On Chesil Beach”) in the series. McCrory stars as Kathryn, Max’s estranged wife, and Howle as Caden, the couple’s son. With clear echoes of the James and Rupert Murdoch relationship, Caden runs his father’s British newspaper business and is primed to follow in his footsteps as one of the most powerful men in the world.

Caden’s self-destructive lifestyle spirals out of control, however, with devastating consequences for the family and its business empire. Tom Rob Smith (“The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story”) wrote the show.

“The scripts for ‘MotherFatherSon’ seal Tom Rob Smith’s reputation as one of the most individual and original writers of his age,” said BBC drama chief Piers Wenger. “We are thrilled that in Richard, Helen and Billy he has found the perfect eponymous lead characters to bring his series to life.”

The BBC’s production and distribution unit BBC Studios will make the series and sell it internationally. Filming gets underway in London this month. Alan Poul (“The Newsroom”) is an exec producer, and James Kent (“The Aftermath”) is attached to direct.