“The Idol,” the controversial HBO series set to star pop sensation Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye, grows nearer. And after the announcement that the series would premiere out of competition at next month’s Cannes Film Festival, The Weeknd has started previewing music from the show, performing a new track (“Double Fantasy”) at Coachella last night and on his Instagram two days ago (where he can be seen working on the orchestra intro for the song). Ready or not, “The Idol” is coming.
The Weeknd wasn’t even on the bill for Coachella but popped in during Metro Boomin’s set on Friday. Mike Dean, the influential record producer (who also has a role on “The Idol”), was also on hand to play saxophone on “Double Fantasy,” which is the first substantial new Weeknd music (outside of his track for “Avatar: The Way of Water”) since he released his brilliant album “Dawn F.M.” in January 2022.
Last year, the Weeknd and Swedish House Mafia co-headlined at the last minute when original headlining performer Kanye West dropped out. At the time, it was announced that production on “The Idol” had paused so that The Weeknd could do Coachella, but it was later revealed that the show was going through a complete creative overhaul even though, it was rumored, 80% of the show had already been shot. Director and executive producer Amy Seimetz left the project.
Last month, a bombshell report in Rolling Stone (titled ‘The Idol’: How HBO’s Next ‘Euphoria’ Became Twisted ‘Torture Porn’) said that originally the show was more focused on the female perspective (the lead is played by Lily Rose-Depp), who comes under the sway of a powerful pop star and cult leader (played by Tesfaye) but that Tesfaye and producer Sam Levinson moved away from the narrative of a young girl gaining her autonomy against impossible odds to a more straightforward romantic narrative. Of course, this meant favoring outrageous sex and a ton of nudity. The first teaser trailer for the show, which was released a whopping eight months ago, described it as “The sleaziest love story in all of Hollywood.” (HBO denied the claims.)
With the Cannes announcement and Tesfaye’s tease of “Vol. 1” of the soundtrack album coming soon, there will hopefully be an announcement of when the series will actually, you know, air. During the big Warner Bros. Discovery press conference this week, where they debuted new footage from upcoming HBO series like “True Detective: Night Country” and “The Sympathizer,” “The Idol” wasn’t mentioned or teased. This might have to do with the company’s reposition of HBO Max as simply Max in a bid to distance itself from some of the more explicit implications of HBO. But it still seemed like a strange omission, especially if it’s so close to being out in the world. But hey, The Weeknd giveth and The Weeknd taketh away.
