Billy Magnussenrecently sat down with Collider’sSteve Weintraub, for his new movieCoup!, and one of the hot topics on the table was Magnussen’s role in the much-anticipated HBO series,The Franchise. With the series promising to delve into the superhero genre with a unique twist, Magnussen gave us some insight into why this project is set to be a must-watch. Co-starDaniel Brühlwas just as enthusiastic whenhe discussed the project with Collider’sMaggie Lovittlate last year.
When asked about the significance of the show in the context of Hollywood’s current obsession with superhero films, Magnussen didn’t hold back in expressing his enthusiasm. He told Collider:
“First thing, it’s nice to see a show that celebrates and exploits the people who actually make movies, not movie stars. It’s actually the crew members, the producers, the writers, the people putting these things together. And to poke fun at it all is the greatest gift because sometimes we take this shit too seriously, and our show is just popping all the holes, being like, ‘You’re not off limits. You can make fun of it!’”
Magnussen’s character, Adam, is the face of a fictionalsuperhero franchise, portraying a character known as “Techto.” But as Magnussen explained, it’s not all glamour and glory: “Through that character of playing Adam, who plays Techto, I got to explore — which is really prevalent in our industry —the insecurity of actors and the not feeling good about who you are as you’re the biggest star in the world, and you’re still isolated and alone and insecure and think everything you do is shit. So, it was fun to make fun of myself and other actors I know while making this TV show.”
The filming process forThe Franchisewas no small feat, as Magnussen shared:
“We actually did old-school style where we shot the pilot first, and then we had a green light or red light from HBO. So we shot the pilot over maybe two and a half years ago, and then we shot the seven remaining episodes at the beginning of this year. The pilot was, I think, 15 days and then the rest of the series was about four months, so two to three weeks an episode. So, it was great.”
The Cast of ‘The Franchise’ Is “Fantastic”
Magnussen was full of praise for his co-stars and the crew, highlighting the incredible ensemble cast: “But I have to say, the ensemble — I mean, you’ve gotDaniel Brühl,Richard E. Grant, you haveAya Cash, you haveLolly [Adefope], you haveHimesh Patel. It was a fantastic group of people to work on this project with.Sam Mendes, Jon Brown, Armando Iannucci…”
Weintraub also touched on the apparent superhero fatigue in Hollywood, to which Magnussen responded with a knowing nod. Yet,The Franchiseappears to be tackling this head-on. Magnussen explained: “No, it confronts those issues a lot. We have characters in it,Darren Goldsteinplays a great producer that is a high-up person in, let’s say, ‘the maximum studio system’ that we have for our show, and how productions can be ripped apart, torn up, put back together Frankensteined. We cover those boxes that these studio heads need to check, and confront those issues.”
He also shared some of the unique challenges of playing a superhero character who isn’t quite living the superhero life:
“My favourite thing about it was the ensemble. You didn’t know if you were acting or just hanging out with your friends sometimes because it is very Office-y-feeling, likeThe Office, but set on a film stage. Basically,I’m in a superhero outfit the whole show, but I’m never doing superhero stuff.I’m just in the tights and the uniform, talking like the camera’s off. It’s really funny.”
As for the challenges of wearing the superhero suit, Magnussen added with a laugh, “I wanna take it off, bro! We got the job, we got greenlit, and I was like, ‘Oh, god, I gotta get in shape. I gotta get, like, superhero-sized and do the whole thing.’ I put on 25 pounds to play the character," he explained. “I showed up to the fitting, and I couldn’t fit in the suit because they tapered it to the other way. They’re like, ‘Why did you do that? We have a muscle suit for you. You could have just worn that.’ And I was like,‘Oh, god, that needs to be in the show.’Yeah, I wanted to be out of that suit as soon as possible, to tell you the truth. [Laughs] It is so uncomfortable, so tight. But it’s funny, it becomes one with you.”
The Franchisedoesn’t have a set release date yet, but the half-hour comedy series may be eyeing a late 2024 debut on HBO and Max. As we get closer to fall, we should expect more news on that front. Stay tuned for the rest of Weintraub’s conversation with Magnussen.
The Franchise
A team trapped inside the dysfunctional hell of creating franchise superhero movies, at the end of the day the question they face is: is this Hollywood’s new dawn or cinema’s last stand? Is this a dream factory or a chemical plant?
