After weeks of speculation, Cannes Delegate General Thierry Frémaux confirmed Thursday morning that Sam Levinson’s Euphoria follow-up The Idol will screen out-of-Competition at the festival.
Frémaux said he expects to see lead actor and co-creator Abel Tesfaye, who performs music as The Weeknd, on the Croisette for the premiere alongside co-star Lily-Rose Depp. The Starboy singer, Frémaux said, is a regular at the festival and has often traveled incognito to screen films playing in Competition.
While announcing the title, Frémaux also described the HBO project as a “movie that could become a series.” The description was a mistake due to a mix-up in the French-English translation. The Idol is indeed a TV series, per HBO’s official promo materials. Sources can’t confirm how many episodes will screen at the fest, but previous series such as David Lynch’s Twin Peaks screened two episodes for the festival audience.
Co-created by Levinson, Tesfaye, and Reza Fahim, The Idol is set against the backdrop of the music industry in Los Angeles. The show follows a female pop singer who starts a romance with an enigmatic L.A. club owner who is the leader of a secret cult.
In addition to Tesfaye and Depp, the cast includes Suzanna Son, Troye Sivan, Moses Sumney, Jane Adams, Dan Levy, Jennie Ruby Jane, Eli Roth, Rachel Sennot, Hari Nef, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Mike Dean, and South Korean artist Jennie Kim. Organizers have yet to confirm whether Kim will be in attendance at Cannes, but the 27-year-old, best known as a member of the mega-popular band Blackpink, would be a huge Gen-Z focussed attraction for the fest.
Character details are being kept under wraps, but HBO has dropped a series of enigmatic trailers teasing the series. Early last year, Deadline also reported that the show underwent a creative overhaul, with series director Amy Seimetz exiting.
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As Deadline reported at the time, the crux of the issue appeared to be that Tesfaye felt the show was leaning too much into a “female perspective”, according to sources, with co-star Lily-Rose Depp’s character rather than his own.
Joe Epstein serves as showrunner and writer on the series. Levinson, Tesfaye, Fahim, Epstein, Ashley Levinson, Kevin Turen, Bron Studios’ Aaron L. Gilbert executive produce. Mary Laws, who has written on Succession and Preacher, writes and co-exec produces. The Weeknd’s manager Wassim “SAL” Slaiby and creative director La Mar C. Taylor also co-exec produce.
This year’s Cannes Film Festival runs May 16-27.
