HBO is both embracing and spoofing the superhero genre starting on October 6. Following a new episode of The Penguin, a gritty crime drama based on a character from The Batman, a new comedy series, The Franchise, will air and highlight the absurdity of superhero movies.
HBO released the first official trailer for The Franchise, a comedy from executive producers Sam Mendes, Armando Iannucci, and Jon Brown. Himesh Patel stars as Daniel, the first assistant director who says it’s his job to “keep the actors from killing themselves.” The large-scale blockbuster production is a roller-coaster ride. From erratic behavior from actors and a pretentious director to gender politics and on-set breakdowns, Daniel must keep it together and find solutions before the film falls apart.
“I just want this to be a good film,” Daniel says before production continues on a downward spiral.
Besides Patel, The Franchise stars Aya Cash as Anita, Jessica Hynes as Steph, Billy Magnussen as Adam, Lolly Adefope as Dag, Darren Goldstein as Pat, and Isaac Powell as Bryson. Recurring guest stars include Richard E. Grant as Peter and Daniel Brühl as Eric.
Mendes directed the pilot based on a script by Brown, The Franchise’s showrunner. Iannucci is best known for creating the Emmy-awarding comedy Veep, HBO’s political satire series that follows the life and inner workings of politician Selina Meyer (Julia Louis-Dreyfus). Iannucci also created Avenue 5, an HBO comedy series that ran for two seasons from 2020 to 2022.
The eight-episode season premieres at 10 p.m. ET/PT on Sunday, October 6. The show will air on HBO and stream on Max. One new episode will debut weekly through Sunday, November 24.
