The Franchise, poking a finger at the complex world of superhero franchise-building, is coming to HBO on Oct. 8.
The new 8-episode comedy series follows a hopeful film crew who find themselves trapped, according to HBO’s loglines “inside the dysfunctional, nonsensical, joyous hellscape of franchise superhero moviemaking.”
The new series stars 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 eight-episode season debuts Sunday. Oct. 6 at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT on HBO and will be available to stream on Max, followed by one new episode weekly through Sunday, November 24.
The Franchise is from Executive producers Sam Mendes, Pippa Harris, Nicolas Brown, and Julie Pastor for Neal Street Productions; Armando Iannucci for Dundee Productions; Jon Brown, and Jim Kleverweis.
The pilot was directed by Sam Mendes and written by Jon Brown, who also serves as showrunner.