As he sets out on his “After Hours Til Dawn” stadium tour, The Weeknd is also treating fans to the first footage from his upcoming HBO series The Idol.
According to Variety, the drama “follows a self-help guru and cult leader who develops a complicated relationship with an up-and-coming pop idol.” The Weeknd, real name Abel Tesfaye, stars in and co-created the series alongside Sam Levinson (Euphoria) and Reza Fahim.
The video is basically a bunch of frantic images featuring good-looking young people partying, doing drugs and just generally being obnoxiously rich and famous. Honestly, there’s not much here that points to what the show is actually about. Yes, it’s the first teaser, but there needs to be something more to make audiences at least a little interested.
Frankly, The Idol’s behind the scenes journey has been more fascinating than its on-screen teaser. In April, the show underwent major production changes, with director Amy Seimetz exiting and the creative direction being changed. It’s rumored that Levinson took over directing duties. At the time, multiple episodes had been produced and there’s still no details on what the new direction is or how much of the cast and crew were impacted.
“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 when news of the changes broke. “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 Weeknd is such a creative entertainer that I’m inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt and wait for more footage and information before making a snap judgment on The Idol. However, this generic teaser has not bought him a lot of time. The next trailer needs to be instantly captivating.