‘The Franchise’ Trailer: Richard E. Grant Mocks Marvel Method Acting in ‘Veep’ Creator’s Latest Workplace Comedy
Armando Iannucci has already skewered the world of politics with prescient series “Veep.” Now, the staple HBO showrunner is turning his satirical eye on Hollywood with workplace comedy series “The Franchise.”
The official synopsis for “The Franchise” reads: “The series follows the crew of an unloved franchise movie fighting for their place in a savage and unruly cinematic universe. The comedy series shines a light on the secret chaos inside the world of superhero moviemaking, to ask the question — how exactly does the cinematic sausage get made? Because every fuck-up has an origin story.”
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With Method acting mocked and superhero stars juicing up with HGH, “The Franchise” doesn’t hesitate to point out just how ridiculous working on big studio franchises really is.
The ensemble cast includes Aya Cash, Himesh Patel, Jessica Hynes, Billy Magnussen, Lolly Adefope, Darren Goldstein, and Isaac Powell; Richard E. Grant and Daniel Brühl are billed as recurring guest stars.
Sam Mendes executive produces the series and directs the pilot episode. Jon Brown is the showrunner.
Iannucci executive produces for Dundee Productions; Brown and Jim Kleverweis also executive produce. Mendes, Pippa Harris, Nicolas Brown, and Julie Pastor are executive producers for Neal Street Productions.
Actor Magnussen previously told IndieWire that “The Franchise” cast was “everything,” and it made the series as hilarious behind the scenes as it is onscreen.
“The gift was, I got to laugh at all this shit we do,” Magnussen said of the meta show (HBO parent company Warner Bros. Discovery also owns DC Studios). “Like people with big egos being like, ‘Oh, they’re superstars.’ It’s a TV show about making a superhero movie, and it’s all just a bunch of morons running the show and you get to laugh.”
He added of the cast, “The ensemble was everything. The community I worked with during that TV show was a gift that I couldn’t be more grateful for. It’s all about people, because a lot of this industry takes itself too seriously, and this show reminds me that you can have fun and laugh at yourself and that’s what we did.”
“The Franchise” premieres October 6 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on HBO and will be available to stream on Max. Check out the trailer below.
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