‘The Franchise’: HBO’s New Series Is Both A Love Letter And Cautionary Tale

Today’s culture has leaned into the entertainment of franchise films, and a new HBO comedy series spotlights how this has changed how we consume television.

What is ‘The Franchise’ about?

According to the series synopsis, The Franchise “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: How exactly does the cinematic sausage get made?”

Created by the man behind some of the most celebrated satire in television history through shows like Veep and The Thick of It, Armando Iannucci sees this new project as both a cautionary tale and a love letter to the current state of big-budget blockbuster culture.

The creators reveal the inspiration for this sort of satirical comedy

“I grew up as a Marvel comics fan,” Iannucci told Blavity. “I collected the whole range, and then I became like a child again about a couple of years ago when I was asked to do a Spider-Man comic, and I did a Daredevil comic late last year, so I love it all. I really liked the films when they started coming out, the really distinctive ones, the first Iron Man. Captain America: The Winter Soldier was a great kind of espionage movie, and it was only as they started pouring out and you were asked not just to see this, but to set it up, you were asked to watch this series on streaming, became a thing bigger than any one movie, and that’s when I felt something’s got lost along the way here.”

He added, “That was interesting, and we were always keen to show that. For the people who we show in the show for them, it’s their career. It’s their life. They’re passionate about it, and also they’re very good at it. It’s a craft. They want it to be good. They want it to work; they just have that nagging worry that they might be killing cinema. It’s a worry because they love cinema. The love comes from there, and we want the audience to share that. To be invested in them and how they feel.”

Co-creator Jon Brown echoed the sentiment, noting that this satirical comedy stems from a genuine enthusiasm and love for the type of films it pokes fun at.

“I grew up in the ’80s with a vibrant cinema at the time and very vibrant and lots of original movies and lots of very iconic scenes and moments that are still referenced,” Brown recalled. “Now, when I think about what my children have, I think it’ll be very hard to think of 10 really iconic moments that in 30 years time, you could parody, and the people will recognize, like the bike from E.T. or Indiana Jones and his hat. It’s like if you were to take all of these franchise movies and try to distill them down to images that are iconic enough that you will remember them in 40 years, I don’t think that’s going to happen. I do think there’s something that’s been lost, and so what I would love is for them to rediscover that because when they’re done well, they’re my favorite kind of movie.”

Series stars reveal what drew them to the project.

Show stars like Himesh Patel, Billy Magnussen and Aya Cash drew inspiration for their characters from the people who pour their hearts and souls into franchise films.

“The real honor that I got with this character is to explore the insecurity that actors go through and express that these are great people who are away from their families. They’re feeling insecure,” Magnussen said. I think we all kind of go through it at times, and it’s not as pretty as you think it is. It takes something out of you. Every project takes a little bit of you every time, and the question of “Am I enough?” is a repeated thing with a lot of actors out there. I don’t want to speak for them, but I’ve come across friends who have insecurities. It’s just a natural thing because you’re putting yourself out there, and you’re hoping people respect it. It’s challenging, it’s vulnerable.”

“I spoke to our first AD [assistant director] on the pilot episode,” Patel added. “His name is Barrie McCulloch. He’s worked on a lot of big movies, big studio sort of franchise-ish movies, and so that was really valuable to me, him sharing his experiences and being very candid, sharing a lot of the impact it’s had on his life, being a first AD and being in this business, and it felt to me what was on the page and what we were building with the character of Daniel was really accurate. I’ve spoken to other first ADs who feel the same way. So, I definitely feel like I was speaking for Daniel as a character. I feel like we captured something, but I’m also really proud of the fact that this show is spotlighting and celebrating the crew, the people who are usually unseen. They’re essential. They’re instrumental to making anything, any sort of movie or TV show. It’s nice to finally have them on the big screen/little screen.”

Actress Lolly Adefope found the most exhilarating part of portraying her character in The Franchise was being able to mimic or highlight the wildfires that crews often put out with a straight face.

“Playing the crew who are going through something that they think is very serious and they think that each individual problem that’s going wrong is kind of the end of the world and obviously, they’re not saving lives, but in this world, it does feel like everything’s kind of crashing down around them,” Adefope shared. “And so that kind of like, with your walkie-talkie, acting like you’re a CIA agent or something. There’s a line where I’m talking to Daniel, and I am saying that Pat’s in the cast green room, and I’m like, ‘Fox in the chicken coop, Fox in the chicken coop.’ That walkie-talkie-like Army speak as if this is a life-or-death situation; I think it’s quite fun.”

When does ‘The Franchise’ air?

The Franchise features Himesh Patel as Daniel, 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.

The Franchise new episodes air Sundays at 10 p.m. ET.

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