The Franchise: HBO Superhero Satire in the Works, Veep Creator Armando Ianucci to Direct

The plot revolves around a film crew trying to create a franchise superhero film.

By Rahul Chettiyar | Updated: 9 August 2022 17:20 IST

The Franchise: HBO Superhero Satire in the Works, Veep Creator Armando Ianucci to Direct

Photo Credit: Lacey Terrell/ HBO

Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Armando Iannucci on the set of HBO's Veep

Highlights

Sam Mendes came up with the idea and will co-direct the pilot
The script is written by Keith Akushie and Jon Brown (Succession)
This marks Sam Mendes’ first small-screen project

HBO has ordered a pilot for a satirical TV series based on superhero filmmaking. Titled The Franchise, the half-hour episodic show will be directed by Veep creator Armando Iannucci. He will be joined by Oscar-winning director Sam Mendes, to narrate a tale of a dysfunctional movie set, as they navigate through the “joyous hellscape of franchise superhero movie-making.” Variety first learned of the project, reporting that Mendes came up with the concept for the show. There is no word on a release window as of now.

Ianucci, who most might recognise as the creator of HBO comedy series, such as Julia Louis-Dreyfus-led Veep and the Hugh Laurie-led Avenue 5, will serve as an executive producer on the show alongside Mendes (Skyfall). The script was written by Jon Brown (Succession) and Keith Akushie, with Ianucci contributing to the pilot. All three writers have been known to create deadbeat, satirical humour via their writing, which makes them a logical choice. Succession was nominated for eight Emmy Awards this year, including one for Outstanding Drama Series.

Brown had previously worked with Iannucci on both Veep and Avenue 5, with the former being a mockumentary on the inner workings of the American government. In fact, the idea was adopted from the original BBC Four series, The Thick of It, which dealt with similar instances, but from a British perspective.

For Mendes, this would mark his first small-screen project, as he collaborates with Ianucci on episode one. This would also be his first comedy project in years, since 1999's American Beauty starring the disgraced Kevin Spacey in the lead. His frequent collaborator, Pippa Harris, will return as producer, with Nicolas Brown and Julie Pastor — all three produced 2020's Oscar-nominated 1917. Working on some of the biggest blockbusters must translate to Mendes bringing in some technical expertise for The Franchise — which after all, is based on superheroes.

Making fun of superhero movies is the new trend, as evidenced by the hype surrounding Amazon's The Boys. However, dealing with it from a filmmaking angle might be difficult, as you must avoid coming off as pretentious. A good reference point would be Shinichirou Ueda's One Cut of the Dead, which deals with a similar film production setting involving zombies.

Ianucci's Avenue 5 was renewed by HBO for its second and final season in May earlier this year. Currently, there is no release window for The Franchise.

Why are they still making more Harry Potter? We discuss this on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

Affiliate links may be automatically generated - see our ethics statement for details.

Comments

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.