Steve Carell in ‘The Office’. Photo: Universal Television.
Preview:
- ‘Succession’ Creator Jesse Armstrong has found the cast for his directorial debut.
- Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman, Ramy Youssef and Cory Michael Smith will star.
- It’ll debut on Max.
Having spent the last few years –– at least up until May 2023 when the series final screened –– chronicling the lives of fictional (if not-so-loosely based on Rupert Murdoch’s dynasty) billionaires in ‘Succession,’ writer/producer Jesse Armstrong could be forgiven for wanting to make something about an entirely different subject. Sheep farmers in Bolivia, say. Or a toilet attendant in Arizona.
But no, for his next trick, the satirical writer is throwing himself back into that maelstrom, albeit through a new angle –– and this time, he’ll direct what he wrote, making his shot-calling debut with a satirical new movie whose title is a mystery for now.
Now, thanks to a tweet from streaming service HBO/Max –– which is teaming back up with Armstrong after being the home of ‘Succession’ for its four-season run, we now know that Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman, Ramy Youssef and Cory Michael Smith will star.
Carell. Schwartzman. Smith. Youssef. A new @HBO Original film from Jesse Armstrong, the creator of Succession.
Premieres this spring on Max. pic.twitter.com/HRfMOOm3cd
— Max (@StreamOnMax) March 4, 2025
The movie starts filming this month in Park City, Utah, which is most famously known as A) a place for wealthy types and B) the home for years of the Sundance Film Festival.
What’s the story of ‘Succession’ creator Jesse Armstrong’s new movie?
(L to R) Jeremy Strong, Alan Ruck, Kieran Culkin, Brian Cox, and Sarah Snook in HBO’s ‘Succession.’
According to the barebones official synopsis, the new film –– it presumably has a title, but we’re not being told what it is yet –– follows a group of billionaire friends who get together against the backdrop of a rolling international crisis.
We also know the characters that the cast are bringing to screens: Carell plays Randall, Schwartzman plays Hugo Van Yalk (aka “Souper”), Smith plays Venis and Youssef plays Jeff.
Here’s what Armstrong said about the new project:
“I’m intrigued to discover whether being around so many brilliant actors and directors on ‘Succession’ has in any way rubbed off on me. Let’s hope so. I’m grateful to Casey Bloys, Francesca Orsi and the whole HBO team for backing this film so wholeheartedly and helping me pull together a dream team of cast and crew.”
Team HBO seem just as happy to have him back in the fold:
“We’re ecstatic to be back in business with the singular talent Jesse Armstrong coming off our fruitful collaboration on ’Succession.’ Jesse once again raises the bar with a bold examination of modern greed, power and male ambition. That this feature serves as his directorial debut will only elevate what is already thrilling on the page, and we couldn’t be more excited to share this timely film with the world soon.”
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Where else can I see the cast?
‘Despicable Me 4’ opens in theaters on July 3, 2024. Photo: Universal Pictures.
Carell has been switching between TV and movies for years, since getting a big break on ‘The Daily Show’ and seeing his fortunes boosted further by ‘The Office.’
He was most recently heard rather than seen in two movies last year: family fantasy ‘IF’ and franchise behemoth ‘Despicable Me 4.’
On the small screen, he starred in short-lived Netflix sitcom ‘Space Force’ and effective Hulu thriller miniseries ‘The Patient.’ Carell has worked on Tina Fey’s new Netflix show, ‘The Four Seasons’ and is collaborating with ‘Ted Lasso’ co-creator Bill Lawrence on a series for HBO.
Schwartzman was last seen in ‘Queer,’ stealing scenes from Daniel Craig, and in Francis Ford Coppola’s ‘Megalopolis.’ Keeping it in the family he also had a tiny role in cousin Gia Coppola’s ‘The Last Showgirl.’
He’ll be once more voicing ‘The Spot’ when Sony gets around to releasing ‘Spider-Man: Beyond The Spider-Verse’ and has a role in Michael Showalter’s new Christmas comedy ‘Oh. What. Fun.’
Comedian/actor Youssef, the creator and star of his own show ‘Ramy’ on Hulu, was seen in 2023’s ‘Poor Things’ and lent his voice to Disney animated title ‘Wish.’ He also co-created the Netflix series ‘Mo’ and worked on upcoming Prime Video animated comedy series ‘#1 Happy Family USA.’
Smith, who made an impression playing Chevy Chase in Jason Reitman’s ‘Saturday Night,’ also appeared in ‘May December’ and has a couple of movies on the way, ‘Sentimental Value’ and ‘Famous.’
In addition to that, he’s part of the cast for Prime Video crime show ‘The Nightbeast.’
When will Jesse Armstrong’s film be on screens?
There’s the big wrinkle for this one: if you look at the script cover in the Max tweet about the cast, you’ll see the words “This Spring.”
Which, yes, means that Armstrong is aiming to have the movie ready in the next couple of months.
Presumably, he wants to get a satire of international chaos out before everyone in America is too poor to subscribe to Max at all. Either that, or spending years toiling at the relentless maw of TV means he learned how to work quickly.
Steve Carell in ‘The 40-Year-Old Virgin’. Photo: Universal Pictures.
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