It’s all about money, drugs and orgies in the first trailer of Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye and Sam Levison’s new HBO series The idol.
Dropping Sunday is the minute and a half teaser featuring the first images from the upcoming show starring Lily-Rose Depp, who is pitched in the trailer as “of the sick and twisted minds” of its co-creators.
Topless women, popped champagne bottles and a car ride under the California sun to a dazzling white mansion open the wild teaser, which contains just a few lines from the stars.
“Lick it. Beat it. Drop it,” a woman can be heard talking about scenes of Tesfaye hitting the air and Depp surrounded by dancers, before words flash across the screen promising, “The sleaziest love story in all of Hollywood.”
“Why don’t you just be yourself,” The Weeknd’s character asks Depp’s at one point. “Because there’s nothing recognizable about me,” she bites back.
Set in the music industry in LA, the idol revolves around a self-help guru and leader of a modern cult who develops a complicated relationship with an aspiring pop singer.
The series was first announced in June 2021. By November, HBO had commissioned it with Amy Seimetz to direct all six episodes of the show, created by Tesfaye, Levinson and Reza Fahim. At the time, Suzanna Son, Melanie Liburd, Tunde Adebimpe, Steve Zissis, Troye Sivan, Elizabeth Berkley Lauren, Nico Hiraga and Anne Heche were all associated with the star.
But in April, it was announced that the series would “adjust” and overhaul the cast and crew to fit in a new creative direction. “the idol’s creative team continues to build, refine and develop their vision for the show and have taken a new creative direction,” HBO said in a statement. “The production will adjust the cast and crew accordingly to best serve this new approach to the series. We look forward to sharing more information soon.”
Tesfaye and Fahim are also credited as writers with Joe Epstein as showrunner. The Weeknd, Fahim, Levison, Seimetz and Epstein are executive producers along with Kevin Turen, Aaron Gilbert for Bron, Ashley Levinson, Nick Hall, Sara E. White and A24.
The teaser promises that the series is “coming soon”.
