On Apple TV's The StudioContinental Studios specializes in big-budget movie blockbusters — not indie, arthouse films. Top executive Matt, played by Seth Rogen, and his team are tasked with reinvigorating the increasingly commercialized art form, but in the trailer for The Studio, released Tuesday, viewers watch as his empire begins to crumble.
“I got into this because I love movies, but now I have this fear that my job is to ruin them,” Matt says in the trailer.
In The StudioRogen stars as the newly appointed head honcho of Continental Studies who must deal with corporate's demands and create inventive ploys to keep the tanking movie studio afloat. To Rogen's Matt, every party, set visit, casting decision, marketing meeting, and awards show could lead to a success story or a career-ending blowup. The cast includes Catherine O'Hara (To Mighty Wind), Kathryn Hahn (Agatha All Along), Bryan Cranston (breaking Bad), Ike Barinholtz (Suicide Squad), Chase Sui Wonders (Bodies, Bodies, Bodies), Keyla Monterroso Mejia (Freeridge), and Dewayne Perkins (The Blackening).
Rogen wrote, directed, and produced the 10-episode series alongside Evan Goldberg. The duo, who first met at a Vancouver bar mitzvah at age 12, have numerous collaborations under their belt including Superbad, Pineapple Express, The Boys, Sausage Party, and recent spinoffs Sausage Party: Foodtopia. When reuniting for The Studio, Goldberg told Rolling Stone that the series strays from the “idyllic, shiny version of Hollywood,” and rather paints a picture of their reality in the entertainment industry.
“Exploring it from the studio side of things is probably a much more relatable way into Hollywood for most people, because they are essentially just people who work in an office,” Rogen told Rolling Stone in July. “A big part of the show is our own discomfort as people who are creative caught in a world that is decidedly becoming more and more corporate.”
The series, created by Peter Huyck, Alex Gregory, Rogen, Goldberg, and Frida Perez will air its first two episodes May 21 on Apple TV+.
