How do you follow a cultural phenomenon like “Succession”? If you’re Jesse Armstrong, it doesn’t hurt to build on what you do best: making fun of childish billionaires on HBO.
Armstrong returns to the premium cable network in May with “Mountainhead,” an HBO original movie he wrote and directed with a premise that could be ripped right out of “Succession.” The film follows four tech moguls (played by Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman, Ramy Yousef, and Cory Michael Smith) with a combined net worth of nearly $400 billion who meet in an alpine mansion for a weekend of skiing and poker. But their bros’ getaway is soon derailed when they find themselves fighting over a global meltdown that may or may not be caused — or at the very least, amplified and expedited — by their own social media platforms.
Additional cast members for “Mountainhead” include Hadley Robinson, Andy Daly, Ali Kinkade, Daniel Oreskes, David Thompson, Amie MacKenzie, and Ava Kostia. The film is executive produced by Armstrong, Frank Rich, Lucy Prebble, Jon Brown, Tony Roche, Will Tracy, Mark Mylod, and Jill Footlick.
While “Mountainhead” will inevitably see Armstrong covering some new creative terrain, perhaps the film’s continued focus on dysfunction among America’s wealthiest families will help ease the pain of “Succession” ending. Armstrong previously said that he hoped someone would have talked him out of ending the acclaimed series after four seasons because he enjoyed making it so much.
“The word that comes to mind for me is ‘natural.’ I hope people, when they see this season, will feel that it has a natural shape to it,” Armstrong said in a 2023 interview with Variety prior to Season 4. “That’s how I pitched it to my writers’ room, kind of hoping I’d get argued out of it so we’d see a way to do more seasons, because I love working with these people. I think there’s a feeling of completeness and rightness to the shape of the show.”
“Mountainhead” airs on HBO on Saturday, May 31 at 8 p.m. E.T./P.T. and will be available to stream on Max. Check out the teaser below.
