A couple of month after HBO’s new present The Idol stirred controversy, followers are getting a glimpse on the Weeknd and Lily-Rose Depp in Sam Levinson’s revamped model. A brand new trailer for the erotic drama was launched with the community saying The Idol will premiere on Sunday, June 4 at 9 p.m. It is the primary footage launched since manufacturing sources alleged to Rolling Stone the collection was primarily “torture porn.”
Set to Britney Spears’s track “Gimme Extra,” the trailer opens with somebody musing when the music trade had “the final truly-f****ing-nasty, nasty pop-girl.” Enter Depp, who performs singer Jocelyn, and her character will get blended up with a modern-day cult chief.
“After a nervous breakdown derailed Jocelyn’s (Lily-Rose Depp) final tour, she’s decided to assert her rightful standing as the best and sexiest pop star in America. Her passions are reignited by Tedros (The Weeknd), a nightclub impresario with a sordid previous. Will her romantic awakening take her to wonderful new heights or the deepest and darkest depths of her soul?” an official synopsis reads.
The 2-minute trailer is filled with plenty of steamy scenes, which ought to come as no shock to anybody who watches Levinson’s wildly profitable HBO present Euphoria. The Idol is co-created by Levinson and the Weeknd, actual identify Abel Tesfaye, and it underwent a artistic overhaul final yr. A Rolling Stone exposé featured nameless sources who claimed the present’s “gone wildly, disgustingly off the rails.” Manufacturing insiders alleged the course shifted with Levinson taking on as director because the provocative content material supposedly elevated. Nevertheless, stars Depp and Tesfaye stand by their co-collaborator.
“Sam is, for thus many causes, the very best director I’ve ever labored with. By no means have I felt extra supported or revered in a artistic area, my enter and opinions extra valued,” the actress advised Yahoo. “Working with Sam is a real collaboration in each approach — it issues to him, greater than something, not solely what his actors take into consideration the work, however how we really feel performing it. He hires individuals whose work he esteems and has at all times created an surroundings through which I felt seen, heard, and appreciated.”
A supply advised Yahoo there may be “no battle” between Tesfaye and Levinson and that the celebrity most well-liked Levinson’s imaginative and prescient for the present from his predecessor, director Amy Seimetz. The insider dismissed a report that Tesfaye wished Seimetz out as a result of she was leaning an excessive amount of right into a “feminine perspective.”
“The present continues to be very a lot about [Lily-Rose’s] character and she or he’s been an integral a part of the artistic course of,” the supply added.
In a latest interview in Interview journal, Tesfaye stated he and Depp bought to be “free” and “weak” on set due to Levinson.
“We had someone that made us really feel snug and protected, like we’re all creating one thing that we might look again on and be pleased with. And so large shout-out to Sam and that entire crew,” the singer exclaimed. Though he danced round discussing the Rolling Stone report immediately, Tesfaye talked about individuals who’ve already created a story in regards to the present.
“I am used to it greater than somebody like Sam, who’s in all probability a little bit bit used to it now. And I am positive Lily, undoubtedly—Lily’s stronger than each of us. However I have been judged because the starting. My stuff’s at all times sort of been provocative,” he shared.
“Nevertheless it will get a little bit difficult for me when there’s extra individuals concerned. When it impacts different individuals it hurts me a little bit bit,” Tesfaye continued. “That is what I am studying in regards to the movie enterprise, is that when individuals begin rumors, it actually does harm loads of different individuals. Lots of people work laborious on these tasks. After I’m in my world, and also you guys are coming at me, it’s like, alright, cool. I am a giant boy. I can determine it out. However you’ve gotten 200 individuals working laborious on a venture like this, that hurts. Particularly when what they’re saying is much from the reality, however, what are you able to do?”
HBO issued a press release in help of The Idol final month.
“The creators and producers of The Idol have been working laborious to create one in every of HBO’s most fun and provocative authentic applications. The preliminary method on the present and manufacturing of the early episodes, sadly, didn’t meet HBO requirements so we selected to make a change,” a rep advised Yahoo. “All through the method, the artistic group has been dedicated to making a protected, collaborative, and mutually respectful working surroundings, and final yr, the group made artistic modifications they felt have been in the very best curiosity of each the manufacturing and the solid and crew. We stay up for sharing The Idol with audiences quickly.”
The Idol will premiere on the Cannes Movie Pageant subsequent month within the out of competitors choice.
