The most controversial series of the year, starring The Weeknd and Lily-Rose Depp, descends into chaos

In “The Idol,” Lily-Rose Depp plays a troubled pop star struggling to navigate the seedy underworld of the music industry. There she meets a slimy cult leader and owner of a popular nightclub played by R&B singer The Weeknd (real name Abel Tesfaye).

In fact, “The Idol” should have come out last fall, taking the place of “House of the Dragon,” which released in October with HOTD’s series finale. After months of vague information from HBO, the start date is now set: June 5. In Switzerland, the series runs on Sky Show.

As recently as March, Rolling Stone wrote that the show’s staff was in the dark and had no idea what the final version would look like: “It’s going to be a shitshow,” Rolling Stone quoted an anonymous source as saying. The first public hint of trouble came in April 2022, when most of the episodes had already been completed and director Amy Seimetz suddenly quit.

However, three crew members argue that Seimetz’s work seemed doomed from the start. With weeks to go before filming began, she was faced with half-completed scripts, an extremely tight schedule, and HBO’s expectations that were nearly impossible to meet. “Frankly, I think HBO gave her a lot of shit,” says one crew member. Despite the limited budget, HBO reportedly expected Seimetz to deliver a “Euphoria”-esque result, complete with music videos, expensive mansions, nightclubs and stadiums as backdrops.

After Seimetz, Sam Levinson took over directing, scrapped the $54 million project, and rewrote the whole thing. Levinson softened the show’s message about the screwed-up music industry by moving beyond the disturbing content and nudity of his hit series Euphoria.

“I signed up for a dark satire about fame and the 21st century model of success,” one crew member told Rolling Stone. However, “the series went from satire to what it satirizes.” Now the series is no longer about a troubled pop star who falls victim to a predatory industry rep and struggles to regain his freedom, but rather a humiliating love story with a hollow message. Some crew members describe the new storyline as offensive:

“It was like any rape fantasy any toxic man would have on the show — and then the woman comes back for more because it makes her music better.”

There are few explanations for Seimetz’s departure, other than reports that series co-creator Tesfaye felt the series focused too much on a “female perspective.” He was unhappy that the story focused too much on Depp’s character. “It was like The Weeknd wanted a show that was all about him – Sam [Levinson] I was fine with that,” a source told Rolling Stone.

According to three different sources, Levinson’s scripts contain disturbing sexual and physically violent scenes between Depp and Tesfaye’s characters at various points. In one script, there would be a scene where Tesfaye slaps Depp’s face, causing her character to smile and ask to be spanked further, giving Tesfaye an erection. The scene was never filmed.

Working conditions have not really improved under the new management either. Most of the crew didn’t even return for the “new” shooting. Levinson was also initially absent from the set. Instead, he devoted his time to filming the second season of “Euphoria”, which was filmed on the property next door.

Three months of planned filming turned into half a year: “There was always a sense of chaos because [wir] never had a plan of what would happen today or tomorrow or in the next scene,” explains a crew member. What ultimately creates the final cut is a mystery. Scenes were constantly being changed and re-shot.

Levinson has reportedly stopped sending scripts to HBO and certain department heads, according to two people familiar with the matter: “I felt like the vibe on set was, ‘What is HBO going to do, pull the plug? Yes of course If they want a third season of ‘Euphoria’ they’ll give me what I want… We’ll just shoot what we want, if and when [die HBO-Manager] If they have a problem with it, that’s their problem.”

According to Rolling Stone, the production has made many reluctant to work with Levinson again given the way he treats his staff.

Depp, on the other hand, says in a statement that Levinson is the best director she has ever worked with. She has never “felt more supported or respected in a creative environment, my input and opinion have never been more valued”.

During the production of Seimetz, the budget increased from $54 million to $75 million. It is not known how much the actual costs for the second production of “The Idol” were.

Flushing over 50 million down the toilet seems very wasteful. One crew member says that while the entertainment industry spends way too much, dumping Seimetz’s version of The Idol to completely remake the same show was probably “the most outrageous thing I’ve ever seen in this industry.”

The decision is especially surprising given that HBO’s parent company, Warner Bros., cut hundreds of jobs last year and plans to cut $4 billion in costs.

(cmu)