In the wake of its mid-production overhaul and “new creative direction,” HBO Max’s new series “The Idol” is losing some key talent.
The series hails from pop star The Weeknd (aka Abel Tesfaye), and “Euphoria” creator Sam Levinson. It focuses on a female pop singer (Lily-Rose Depp) who starts a romance with an enigmatic L.A. club owner (The Weeknd) that happens to be the leader of a secret cult.
The project has already reportedly shot around four or five episodes of its seven-episode run, but with the overhaul comes the departure of both director Amy Seimetz and actress Suzanna Son (“Red Rocket”).
According to Deadline, Tesfaye is understood to have been unhappy with the creative direction of the show and felt the series was leaning too much into a “female perspective”. This put the focus on his co-star Depp’s character rather than his own.
Depp remains on board despite the overhaul, while Levinson is said to be taking a bigger role as a director for the series. It’s not clear if the episode count will be revised in the wake of the changes.
Source: Deadline
