Sam Levinson Took Over HBO's 'The Idol' and Pretty Much Ruined It
HBO's upcoming drama series 'The Idol' has yet to set a unlock date, and now production sources are dishing on the behind-the-scenes drama.
Content warning: This article mentions fictional cases of domestic violence and rape.
On June 29, 2021, information broke that Abel "The Weeknd" Tesfaye could be developing, executive generating, and co-writing a drama sequence for HBO alongside Reza Fahim and Sam Levinson, the latter of whom is highest known for developing Euphoria.
Article continues below advertisementThe display, dubbed The Idol, will center on Jocelyn (Lily-Rose Depp), an aspiring pop star who begins a sophisticated dating with Tedros (The Weeknd), a self-help guru and the head of a modern-day cult.
With the series set to premiere someday in 2023, a number of group members are now talking out in regards to the drastic manufacturing delays and disgusting script adjustments made by Sam Levinson. Keep studying for all the identified main points.
'The Idol' has yet to verify a release date.
HBO to start with deliberate for the sequence to premiere final fall and take over the Sunday slot from House of the Dragon, however it by no means came about. Since then, the community has released three teaser trailers and presented obscure solutions referring to a unencumber date.
At the time of this writing, all we know is that The Idol will premiere later in 2023.
Several assets claim that manufacturing on 'The Idol' has been a nightmare.
On March 1, 2023, Rolling Stone printed a report during which various production resources mentioned they have got little to no idea about what the final version of the collection will seem like because of delays, reshoots, and rewrites. "It was, let's just say, a s--tshow," one source mentioned.
Article continues under advertisementIn April 2022, director Amy Seimetz abruptly exited the show after finishing nearly 80 percent of the six-episode series.
HBO sooner or later addressed the situation, mentioning that The Idol would go through a vital creative overhaul and regulate the solid and staff. There used to be little explanation why given for the adjustments, however reports claimed The Weeknd was once unsatisfied and felt the tale used to be leaning too much into a "female perspective."
Article continues underneath commercialBut now, several participants of the solid and crew published that the lengthen was brought about via Sam Levinson taking over as director and tossing the nearly completed challenge in the trash to rewrite and reshoot the entire show. Many sources claimed that Sam "weakened the show's overarching message" through "dialing up the disturbing sexual content and nudity" to check that of Euphoria.
"What I signed up for was a dark satire of fame and the fame model in the 21st century," one production member mentioned. "The things that we subject our talent and stars to, the forces that put people in the spotlight and how that can be manipulated in the post-Trump world." However, they added, "It went from satire to the thing it was satirizing."
Article continues underneath commercialnah the fact that the unique director was changed with sam levinson because they leaned too much in the female pov must've been sufficient to indicate what sort of a display idol goes to be.
— f (@yennefars) March 1, 2023Many staff contributors stated they have been massive lovers of the original script, however Sam in the end changed the tale and made it less a few "troubled starlet falling victim to a predatory industry figure and fighting to reclaim her own agency, and more of a degrading love story with a hollow message."
"It was like any rape fantasy that any toxic man would have in the show — and then the woman comes back for more because it makes her music better," one source defined of Sam's version.
Article continues under commercialAnother added, "It was a show about a woman who was finding herself sexually, turned into a show about a man who gets to abuse this woman and she loves it." Other sources reiterated this comment, revealing that Sam's scripts contained deeply anxious sexual and bodily violent scenes between Lily and The Weeknd's character.
"In one draft episode, there allegedly was a scene where Tesfaye bashes in Depp's face, and her character smiles and asks to be beaten more, giving Tesfaye an erection," resources told Rolling Stone. "Another proposed scenario was for Depp to carry an egg in her vagina, and if she dropped or cracked the egg, Tesfaye's character would refuse to 'rape' her — which sent Depp's character into a spiral, begging him to 'rape' her because she believed he was the key to her success."
Thankfully, neither scene was once filmed.
Article continues below commercialThe working setting on 'The Idol' wasn't any higher, in keeping with many sources.
Production participants who stuck round for Sam's version of the show told Rolling Stone that the running surroundings was terrible, including that "no one from HBO was stepping in to make sure the production was kept on track." Principal pictures was intended to closing from May to July 2022, however it stretched into September and October.
not even joking sam levinson will have to by no means ever be allowed close to a pen and paper ever again
— َ (@ungodlywests) March 1, 2023"I was so drained by the end of it," one group member said. "I was like, 'I can't have a job make me cry every day because I have two hours to sleep, and I'm being pulled 100 directions because nobody knows what they're doing, or nobody knows what they want because we don't know what we're filming."
Sam reportedly brought his frenzied pace on Euphoria over to The Idol, with one workforce member claiming there was at all times "this sense of chaos because [we] never had a plan on what was going to happen today, or tomorrow, or the next scene."
Article continues below advertisementTwo sources also revealed there used to be also tension between Sam's inside circle, the few team members that remained from Amy's shoot, and higher-ups at HBO. At one point, Sam stopped sending scripts to HBO and particular department heads.
They informed Rolling Stone, "I got the vibe that the mood on set was, 'What's HBO gonna do, pull the plug? Yeah, right. If they want a third season of Euphoria, they'll give me what I want… We're just gonna shoot what we want, and if [HBO execs] have a problem with it, that's their problem.'"
The Idol will premiere sometime in 2023 on HBO and HBO Max.
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