Apple TV just casually dropped the first look at Seth Rogen‘s new show about the decay of Hollywood, and we can’t get enough of Martin Scorsese‘s seconds-long cameo.
The series, titled The Studio, is jam-packed with stars in what will certainly be a story heavy with meta-commentary. The involvement of one of the greatest directors of all time and one of cinema’s biggest champions, then, is pitch-perfect — especially since he’s so critical of “theme park”-type media.
Though, let’s be real here for a second, what else do you call a show with Kathryn Hahn, Anthony Mackie, Bryan Cranston, Paul Dano, Catherine O’Hara, Zac Efron, Zoë Kravitz, Ike Barinholtz, Chase Sui Wonders, Charlize Theron, and Ron Howard in its cast? I mean, sorry, Marty, but that’s definitely my kind of theme park.
We don’t know yet the extent of Scorsese’s role, but we do know Rogen is playing fictional newly-appointed studio head Matt Remick, who must battle “narcissistic artists,” “craven corporate overlords,” and his “own insecurities” for the increasingly impossible task of making great movies, per the official logline. It doesn’t seem like he’s doing that great of a job, however, seeing as the legendary filmmaker is featured in the trailer calling him “talentless” and “spineless”.
From the frenetic teaser, The Studio promises a Sorkian kind of adrenaline, paired with Rogan’s signature brand of earnest comedy. “At Continental [Studios, the Hollywood company at the heart of the series] we don’t make artsy, fartsy films. We make movies. MOOOVIES!” Cranston’s character tells Rogen’s Matt at one point. The line mirrors Scorsese’s vocal criticism of the current business model in Hollywood. Specifically, the prevalence of sprawling action franchises like Marvel, which undoubtedly put people in theater seats, but do little in the way of advancing the medium.
“The danger there is what it’s doing to our culture, because there are going to be generations now that think movies are only those — that’s what movies are,” the Goodfellas filmmaker told GQ last year. He called the flashy productions “manufactured content” that looks like it could have been made by “AI.”
“That doesn’t mean you don’t have incredible directors and special effects people doing beautiful artwork. But what does it mean? What do these films, what will it give you? Aside from a kind of consummation of something and then eliminating it from your mind, your whole body, you know? So what is it giving you? (…) You gotta say something with a movie. Otherwise, what’s the point of making it? You’ve got to be saying something.”
The premise of The Studio is almost, word for word, an exploration of Scorsese’s anxieties. Rogen seems to be projecting them into a future where the Safdies and the Nolans of the world, whom the acclaimed director calls on to “save cinema” in that same interview, have lost the battle against empty tent-poles. The crossover, then, holds plenty of potential.
Martin Scorsese is actually an underrated actor
Though the 82-year-old is famous for his work behind the camera, lauded as arguably the greatest director of all time, he’s actually got quite the natural talent for acting, and he’s proved it throughout the years.
Who could forget him as Travis Bickle’s passenger in Taxi Driver, as Vincent van Gogh in fellow genius Akira Kurosawa’s Dreams, or as the radio show producer in Killers of the Flower Moon‘s incredible ending sequence? His most famous role, of course, is henchman Sykes the Pufferfish in Dreamworks’ Shark Tale, as these tweets will tell you.
Apart from what will undoubtedly be a delicious cameo and sharing in the show’s ideals, Scorsese doesn’t have any other involvement in The Studio. Star Rogen is the main creative behind it, also writing, directing, and executive producing it, alongside frequent collaborator and fellow Canadian Evan Goldberg. This is the comic’s first time in the director’s chair since 2019. He previously directed episodes of AMC’s Preacher, Hulu’s Future Man, and Showtime’s Black Monday.
