“More, more, more, orgy!” yells a voice in the teaser trailer for The Idol, HBO’s upcoming drama series from the “sick and twisted minds” of Abel ‘the Weekend’ Tesfaye and Euphoria creator Sam Levinson.
The Idol was co-created by Abel Tesfaye, Sam Levison, and Reza Fahim. The six-episode series is set against the backdrop of the music industry and centers on a self-help guru and leader of a modern-day cult who develops a complicated relationship with an up-and-coming pop idol. Lily-Rose Depp stars in The Idol alongside Tesfaye, and the series also features Troye Sivan, Steve Zissis, Melanie Liburd, Tunde Adebimpe, Elizabeth Berkley Lauren, Nico Hiraga, Anne Heche, Rachel Sennott, and Hari Nef. “When the multi-talented Abel ‘the Weeknd’ Tesfaye, Reza Fahim, and Sam Levinson brought us The Idol, it was clear their subversive, revelatory take on the cult of the music industry was unlike anything HBO had ever done before,” Francesca Orsi, executive vice president of HBO programming, said in a previous statement.
The Idol did experience a few bumps along the way. Amy Seimetz (The Killing) was slated to direct every episode of the series, but she stepped down in the midst of production. Multiple episodes had already been completed, but HBO announced that they would be reworked with changes to cast and crew. “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 to Variety in April. “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.” The Idol doesn’t have an official release date yet, with the teaser trailer only saying that it will be “coming soon” to HBO.