The Franchise (Max) Armando Iaunucci superhero spoof

[BluBonnet]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Okkl91vrmYk

Hollywood big-budget tentpoles get ready, Armando Iaunucci is coming for you.

The Veep and Avenue 5 creator/writer teamed up with Succession and Veep writer Jon Brown and the pair have crash-landed from the worlds of media, politics and outer space onto a superhero movie set for the satirical series, The Franchise, which has now dropped a teaser trailer.

Sam Mendes (Skyfall, American Beauty) is director and executive producer along with Iaunucci (The Thick Of It, The Death Of Stalin) and Brown, with Brown as showrunner.

“Everything’s exploding at a million miles an hour, and the movie is a scrotum resting on a razor’s edge,” says Himesh Patel to set the tone in the footage. Patel is playing the director an unloved franchise movie “fighting for its place in a savage and unruly cinematic universe.”

Per the logline, “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 ****-up has an origin story.”

Rounding out the cast is Aya Cash, Jessica Hynes, Billy Magnussen, Lolly Adefope, Darren Goldstein and Isaac Powell, with Richard E. Grant and Daniel Brühl as recurring guest stars.

“I’ve eaten a lot of s*** for this money — a Subway footlong bit of turds,” says Brühl at one point.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv...er-1235995968/

[BluBonnet]

The showrunners explain what inspired them to make this show:

How Superhero Franchise Movies Lost Their Way: “It’s Actual Chaos”

[BluBonnet]

The Franchise Satirises The ‘Crazy World’ Of Superhero Filmmaking: ‘There’s A Lot Of Egos’

If you thought Armando Iannucci couldn’t find a more colourful world than politics to satirise, think again – the man behind The Thick Of It, Veep, The Death Of Stalin and more is back as executive producer of The Franchise, exploring the chaos unfolding behind the scenes of a major superhero movie. Teaming up with director Sam Mendes and showrunner Jon Brown, Iannucci’s latest series ventures into the realm of blue screens, spandex, gods, and monsters, as the production of ‘Tecto: Eye Of The Storm’ – from ‘Maximum Studios’ – threatens to go spectacularly off the rails. Expect a storm of clashing creative visions, cantankerous stars, and overbearing execs.

While the series centres on Himesh Patel’s First AD, Daniel, and Lolly Adefope’s Third AD, Dag, as they desperately try to keep ‘Tecto’ on track, one of the complications in the mix is pretentious director Eric – played by Daniel Brühl, who has his own super-franchise experience having played Zemo in the MCU. “It is a crazy world,” Brühl tells Empire of the superhero filmmaking experience. “There’s a lot of power, there’s a lot of egos, there’s a lot of money, put into a crazy fairy tale, adults dealing with what you could consider as completely surreal, childish bullshit. But it is incredibly serious in every single moment! So it was about time that someone came up with the ingenious idea to make a satire about it.”

Getting The Franchise right meant Brown digging into stories from real superhero sets. “We’ve spoken to a lot of people,” he says. “They’re often really complimentary. Everyone’s trying to make something great. But you do get insights into how chaotic and dysfunctional franchises are, and the amount of money that is spent, and the kind of length they go to to avoid making decisions on things.” And since superhero cinema is still big business, there’ll be plenty more material to draw from should The Franchise continue. “I think the recent Marvel news with Robert Downey Jr coming back — that’ll be Season 2, reflecting that, if we get there,” says Brown. “We’ll be thinking about: what happens when a franchise starts looking back and becoming nostalgic, instead of looking forward?” The possibilities seem positively multiversal.

[BluBonnet]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQKUXT2bS20

[Samus Aran]

Anyone watch this? A lot of it was very inside baseball, many jokes fell flat or were undercooked, but the episode moved at a brisk rate and there's a good idea behind the whole thing. Maybe next week will get better.

Am I supposed to make anything of Pat looking at Daniel's dick not once but twice or was that the whole joke?

[BluBonnet]

Pilot was pretty good - Richard E Grant's character is such a whining prima donna - wonder who he's based on?

[eightslicesofpie]

First episode was decent, definitely seems like it has potential to be pretty good. Feels much more in line with Avenue 5 than Veep, unfortunately, but I did still like that show

[BluBonnet]

Veep did not seem like Veep just one episode in.

[eightslicesofpie]

Originally Posted by BluBonnet

Veep did not seem like Veep just one episode in.

I think they definitely grew into themselves like every comedy does, but I just rewatched the show like a month ago and was surprised by how pretty well-formed it was from the very first ep; I think that it and Avenue 5 definitely have distinct energies and tones that are different from each other, and it feels like The Franchise is more in line with the energy of Avenue 5 to me so far. But like I said I did like that show (even if not nearly as much as Veep), so I will be tuning in for the rest of the season ~

[BluBonnet]

It is far easier to spoof government officials and interplanetary travelers than it is the world of superhero filmmaking. We probably won't have a better idea of what the show is like until we are 3 or 4 episodes in.