HBO’s The Franchise had premiered around the same time as The Penguin, and the comedy series seeks to poke fun at the chaos that happens behind the productions of every successful movie franchise like Marvel or DC.
Now Apple TV+ has dropped a new trailer for The Studio starring Seth Rogen, and it very much feels like The Franchise—down to the filmmakers asking if they’re killing cinema. So what’s the difference?
The Studio Starring Seth Rogen
In The Studio, Rogen plays the part of a studio head as he tries to navigate the chaos of running a successful Hollywood studio. The show is set to be a 10-episode series with half-hour episodes, and here’s the trailer:
The official description reads:
“In The Studio, Rogen stars as the newly appointed head of a movie studio, Continental Studios. Desperate for the approval of celebrities, he and his team of executives at Continental Studios must juggle corporate demands with creative ambitions as they try to keep movies alive and relevant.”
Besides Rogen, the cast also includes Catherine O’Hara (Schitt’s Creek), Kathryn Hahn (Agatha All Along), Ike Barinholtz (Neighbors), and Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad). Rogen is also attached as an executive producer alongside his longtime creative partner Evan Goldberg.
It’s also worth mentioning that the series has managed to bring in a lot of big-time Hollywood figures like Zac Efron, Charlize Theron, Anthony Mackie, Adam Savage, and Martin “Superhero Films aren’t Cinema” Scorsese.
HBO’s The Franchise
By comparison, The Franchise is almost the same thing, following the crew of a franchise movie called Tecto: Eye of the Storm. The series follows 1st assistant director Daniel (Himesh Patel) as he tries to keep the production of afloat while he wrangles difficult creatives and impossible studio demands.
The series is said to draw from actual stories about making big franchise films, and the entire franchise is clearly poking fun at huge blockbuster films from the forced product placement to the overworked VFX artists.
What’s the Difference?
With the two lead characters having vastly different jobs, The Franchise is kind of stuck in the world of only one production; while The Studio looks to be juggling several different projects that Rogen’s character has to oversee.
Admittedly, with creators like Armando Iannucci (Death of Stalin, In the Loop) behind The Franchise, the series does tend to lean in on his specific brand of humor which is the clever dialogue delivered fast and sharp
Just looking at the trailer for The Studio, it does seem like the show has a different brand of comedy writing that more audiences will be familiar with. Not to mention, the series definitely used Seth Rogen’s connection and brought a lot of his previous co-stars into the fold.
The Franchise does have its big cameos from time to time (like Katherine Waterston), but the appearances from The Studio’s trailer alone absolutely elevate the material.
To compare: The Franchise mentions Scorsese in a joke; The Studio actually brought him in for a cameo appearance.
Either way, both shows look great, but fans will have to see which one comes out on top.
The Franchise is now streaming on Max. The Studio is set to release on Apple TV+ on March 26.