HBO to Make Significant Creative Changes to The Weeknd’s Series ‘The Idol’
The Weeknd‘s upcoming HBO music industry drama The Idol is set to be overhauled as the show moves in a new creative direction.
As reported by Variety, the series is to be reworked with changes to its cast and crew. It is said that production was already completed on multiple episodes of the six-episode series, which will now undergo reshoots due to the changes.
“The Idol’s creative team continues to build, refine, and evolve their vision for the show and they have aligned on a new creative direction,” HBO said in a statement (via Variety). “The production will be adjusting its cast and crew accordingly to best serve this new approach to the series. We look forward to sharing more information soon.”
Co-created by Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye, Sam Levison, and Reza Fahim, The Idol follows a female pop singer who starts a romance with an enigmatic club owner who also leads a secret cult. It was previously announced that Lily Rose-Depp would star in the lead role opposite The Weeknd.
HBO greenlit a full series order back in November and announced several new cast members. Troye Sivan (Boy Erased), Suzanna Son (Red Rocket), and Steve Zissis (Togetherness) were revealed as series regulars, with Melanie Liburd (Power Book II: Ghost), Tunde Adebimpe (Spiderman: Homecoming), Elizabeth Berkley Lauren (Showgirls), Nico Hiraga (Moxie), and Anne Heche (The Brave) set for recurring roles.
Amy Seimetz (The Girlfriend Experience) was on board as the director and executive producer, while Joe Epstein served as showrunner. Levinson was also set to executive produce through his company Little Lamb alongside Ashley Levinson and Kevin Truent. Other exec producers were Aaron L. Gilbert via Bron Studios and Nick Hall and Sara E. White via A24.
It’s not currently known which cast and crew members will be replaced.
The Idol, TBA, HBO
