The Franchise: Sam Mendes Told Two MCU Directors to ‘Tune In and Have a Laugh’ — Grade HBO Spoof’s Premiere
Things are not super on the set of Tecto: Eye of the Storm.
HBO’s The Franchise premiered on Sunday night, following the crew of the aforementioned, unloved superhero movie, which is currently one-third of the way through a 117-day shoot.
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The series’ cast includes MCU vet Daniel Brühl as Eric, the struggling film’s director; Himesh Patel (Station Eleven) as Daniel, the first assistant director; Lolly Adefope (the UK’s Ghosts) as Dag, the third AD; Jessica Hynes (the UK’s W1A) as script supervisor Stephanie; Aya Cash (The Boys) as Anita, an ambitious producer; Billy Magnussen (Made for Love) and Richard E. Grant (Loki) as Tecto stars Adam and Peter; Darren Goldstein (Ozark) as Maximum Studios chief Pat; and Isaac Powell (American Horror Story Seasons 10/11) as Bryson, a PA.
In the first half-hour episode alone, 1AD Daniel had to deal with whether Gary the boom guy is drunk or high (or both), a “fish man” extra’s panic attack, an unannounced visit from studio chief Pat Shannon (from whom Daniel hoped/failed to hide imported 60 cherry trees that got cut from the script), convincing the “weird and difficult” Eric to add more light to the visually dark film, a soon-to-be-ex wife who has no patience for his “sh–ty movie for masturbating f–knerds,” and co-lead Peter’s alleged polyps.
Daniel, with help from intrepid 3AD Dag, just about keeps things under control… until Pat drops the bomb that director Eric suddenly has no “fish people” to work with, since their cinematic universe’s tentpole film just massacred them all. While Eric reels from that blindside, Daniel learns that both Adam and Peter have been temporarily blinded by the “second sun” that Eric added in order to lighten things up.
Fortunately, Justin — the film’s friendly, “rage sponge” producer — has just arrived on the scene, to tell Pat to f–k off with his cost cutting and what not. But mere seconds later, Justin himself is fired and seemingly replaced with Anita, a chilly old flame of Daniel’s.
Speaking with Franchise executive producers Sam Mendes (who directed the pilot) and Jon Brown (showrunner) ahead of the premiere, TVLine asked if either of the men knows, say, Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige or DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn, or anyone else who might blow up their phone after watching this send-up of superhero moviemaking.
Mendes shared “I’m a big fan of the Russo brothers,” who have directed four MCU films to date and have another two on the horizon, “and I was talking to Joe Russo just the other day and I recommended he tune in and have a laugh.
“I mean, surely they must be able to laugh at the more comic aspects of what they do” — which Mendes also discussed here — “but also, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and all that,” said the Academy Award winner and director of two James Bond films.
The production of big-budget, star-studded superhero films “is something that people want to talk about, and you hear stories about,” Mendes added, “and this is a little look under the hood of how it feels to be on one of those giant sets.”
Want scoop on The Franchise, or for any other TV show ? Email [email protected], and your question may be answered via Matt’s Inside Line!
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