In some fun Marvel adjacent news, HBO has greenlit a half-hour comedy series, The Franchise, serving as a satire of both Marvel and DC movies, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
What’s Happening:
- HBO has greenlit The Franchise, a new comedy series starring Himesh Patel and Aya Cash, which goes behind-the-scenes of a fictional struggling superhero movie.
- The crew of an unloved franchise movie fight for their place in a savage and unruly cinematic universe. The Franchise 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 f***-up has an origin story.
- The series stars Himesh Patel (Yesterday) and Aya Cash (You’re the Worst) along with Jessica Hynes, Billy Magnussen, Lolly Adefope, Darren Goldstein, Isaac Powell, Richard E. Grant and Daniel Brühl.
- The Franchise comes from executive producers Sam Mendes (Skyfall) and Armando Iannucci (Veep), along with showrunner Jon Brown (Succession, Veep).
- The pilot was directed by Mendes and written by Brown, who serves as showrunner.
- Work on the pilot was completed prior to the beginning of the SAG-AFTRA strike, and production on the series will not commence until the strikes have concluded.