Sumith Prasad
HBO’s satirical comedy series ‘The Franchise’ revolves around Maximum Studios’ efforts to make ‘Tecto: Eye of the Storm,’ the latest installment in the production company’s superhero franchise. Eric and Daniel, the director and the 1st AD, respectively, struggle with the studio’s outrageous demands and creative interventions that topple their plans to complete the project. In the premiere episode, one of the heads of the studio, Pat Shannon, even changes the movie’s screenplay considerably, much to the dismay of Eric. The production company’s overwhelming presence cast a shadow on the director and his team’s creativity, reminding us of real-life accounts of studio interventions!
Maximum Studios is a Fictional Representative of Major Superhero Studios
Maximum Studios is a fictional production company conceived by creator Jon Brown and his team of writers. Even though there is a design studio and ad production company with the same name, none are related to the one in ‘The Franchise.’ The core idea behind the show was born out of executive producer Sam Mendes’ experience of making two ‘James Bond’ movies for Eon Productions and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). However, when Brown was brought on board to develop the series’ narrative from scratch, his research gravitated towards the making of projects by Marvel Studios and DC Studios.
Maximum Studios can be seen as a fictional amalgamation of these two production companies that rewrote the fate and future of the superhero genre. How the fictional studio handles the making of ‘Tecto: Eye of the Storm’ reminds us of the way Marvel operates. To helm the superhero film, Maximum hires an indie filmmaker who received the top prize at the Locarno International Film Festival. This particular preference for indie directors is a highlight of Marvel’s hiring process. One major example is Chloé Zhao’s appointment to helm ‘Eternals,’ which had a budget of around $236 million. At the time, Zhao’s portfolio contained indie projects like ‘Nomadland’ and ‘The Rider.’
Before Taika Waititi made ‘Thor: Ragnarok’ with $180 million, his biggest film was ‘Hunt for the Wilderpeople’ which had a budget of a little over $2.5 million. Similarly, Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck were given the reigns of ‘Captain Marvel’ with $152–175 million after they made ‘Mississippi Grind,’ which didn’t even make half a million at the box office. Furthermore, the theater legend Peter’s casting to play the antagonist in ‘Tecto: Eye of the Storm’ reminds us of Christian Bale’s involvement in ‘Thor: Love and Thunder,’ even after the actor infamously said that he “[doesn’t] really care” when asked to choose between the Marvel icons Iron Man and Captain America.
Interestingly, ‘Tecto’ can be seen as a parody of Marvel’s ‘Thor’ films because of the former’s jackhammer-wielding protagonist. Even Pat Shannon, the head of Maximum Studios, resembles Kevin Feige, the president of Marvel Studios. “There’s a very thin funnel that [Marvel] productions go through — which is Kevin Feige’s brain,” Brown observed about Feige to The Hollywood Reporter, reminding us of how Pat intervenes with Eric’s creative processes in the pilot episode. While researching to develop ‘The Franchise,’ the creator learned about producers rewriting screenplays and filmmakers changing scripts and production plans to accommodate the late casting of actors.
“You would assume all this was decided two years ago, but it’s happened a lot across Marvel and DC movies,” Brown added in the same THR interview about these happenings. These words are enough to understand the peripheral inspirations behind Maximum Studios and the outrageous events that happen because of the production company’s interventions.
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