Despite the avalanche of superhero movies that is thrown at us every year, we don't spend much time thinking about how they get made. That is, until we finally press play on The Franchise, the new HBO series that is set to premiere this Sunday. The story follows Daniel Brühl (All Quiet on the Western Front) as the director of a mega-blockbuster feature film who needs to deal with the everyday issues that come up on the set — and try to keep his sanity in the process. To tease the upcoming show, Max unveiled a new trailer today.
The Franchise will be a cross between workplace comedies and superhero movies, and all the glamour will be gone as we witness actors working in front of a lot of green screens, some that despise their own jobs, others who think they're the height of their careers, producers who intervene on every aspect of the production more frequently than they should and a series of fires that director Eric Bouchard (Brühl) will have to put out.
Additionally, the new trailer for The Franchise reveals that it will show the perspective of some professionals that we certainly don't think about: production assistants. They're the ones who have to deal with actors' demands and tantrums, break bad news to people who outrank them, and a bunch of other activities that frequently put them in the line of fire and have to endure all kinds of mistreatment. If the trailer is any indication, we'll feel like we're watching The Office at times.
Who's The Team Behind The Franchise?
There's so much to cover about superhero franchises — from the "real deal" with Marvel and DC to satires like The Boys and Doom Patrol — that The Franchise could easily get lost in which angles to depict. Luckily for us, the series is created by Sam Mendes, Armando Iannucci and Jon Brown. While Mendes has first-hand experience of helming mega-blockbusters like Skyfall, Iannucci is one of the most acclaimed voices in comedy, having created Veep and penned BAFTA nominee The Death of Stalin. Brown is a three-time Emmy winner who wrote episodes of Succession and Dead Pixels.
Aside from Brühl, the cast of The Franchise also features Himesh Patel (Enola Holmes 2), Aya Cash (The Boys), Billy Magnussen (Road House), Jessica Hynes (Shaun of the Dead), Lolly Adefope (Ghosts), Isaac Powell (American Horror Story), Ruaridh Mollica (Ridley), Darren Goldstein (Ozark) and Richard E. Grant (Saltburn).
HBO debuts The Franchise this Sunday, October 6 at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT. The show will also be available to stream on Max, and episodes will roll out weekly. You can check out the trailer below:
The Franchise
- Release Date
- 2024 - 2023
- Network
- HBO Max
- Showrunner
- Jon Brown
Cast
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Jessica Hynes -
Darren Goldstein -
Lolly Adefope
WHERE TO WATCH
A team trapped inside the dysfunctional hell of creating franchise superhero movies, at the end of the day the question they face is: is this Hollywood's new dawn or cinema's last stand? Is this a dream factory or a chemical plant?
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