It’s entirely okay if you don’t remember, but Netflix did in fact release a star-studded $100 million blockbuster a mere 16 months ago called The Bubble.
Produced, co-written, and directed by Judd Apatow, the movie found a group of stars trying to work together and shoot the sequel to a massive fantasy franchise that had fallen on hard times. It spent a measly two weeks on the global Top 10, landed respective Rotten Tomatoes scores of 21 and 30 percent from critics and audiences, and was swiftly written off as one of the streaming service’s biggest flops.
Fast forward to today, and it’s been announced that HBO has ordered The Franchise to series, which has been described as focusing on “the crew of an unloved franchise movie fighting for their place in a savage and unruly cinematic universe,” with a pledge to “shine a light on the secret chaos inside the world of superhero moviemaking.”
It sounds an awful lot like The Bubble, with Cliff Beasts 6: Battle for Everest: Memories of a Requiem having been swapped out for a comic book universe and the merciful lack of a pandemic-era hook. However, there’s every reason to believe that HBO’s attempt is going to end up faring significantly better.
For one thing, Skyfall‘s Sam Mendes will direct the pilot and Veep creator Armando Ianucci serves as an executive producer and co-creator, with Himesh Patel and The Boys‘ Aya Cash joining Jessica Hynes, Billy Magnussen, Lolly Adefope, Darren Goldstein, Isaac Powell, Richard E. Grant and Daniel Brühl as part of the ensemble.
Let’s just all continue pretending The Bubble never existed, then, because The Franchise is ready to pick up the baton and make sure it doesn’t get dropped this time.