Mountainhead, from Succession creator Jesse Armstrong, stars Steve Carell as a billionaire who goes on a trip with his ultra-wealthy friends during an international crisis. The HBO original film, which will air on the channel and stream on Max next month, just got an official teaser trailer that unveils the timely drama with an eerie air of comedy that fans of The Big Short will immediately gravitate towards.
As seen in the official teaser below, Mountainhead stars Carell as Randall, Jason Schwartzman as Souper (Hugo Van Yalk), Cory Michael Smith as Venis, and Ramy Youssef as Jeff. Per the official logline, the story follows a group of billionaire friends that “get together against the backdrop of a rolling international crisis.” From the new footage, Mountainhead appears to be tackling a current, not-yet-existent crisis that stems from the companies and platforms owned by billionaires. In a not-so-subtle nod to the misinformation present in social media websites like X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook, it seems the main characters are inspired by Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg, among other widely disliked billionaire CEOs.
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In addition to the four main cast members that make up the friend group, Mountainhead features Hadley Robinson as Hester, Andy Daly as Casper, Ali Kinkade as Berry, Daniel Oreskes as Dr. Phipps, David Thompson as Leo, Amie MacKenzie as Janine, and Ava Kostia as Paula. For those looking for another Succession continuation, fret not. The musical score for Mountainhead will be composed by three-time Oscar nominee Nicholas Britell, whose previous film work includes Moonlight, If Beale Street Could Talk (2018), and Don’t Look Up. He famously worked on Jesse Armstrong’s Emmy-winning HBO drama, for which Britell won an Emmy for Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music, along with three other nominations.
‘Mountainhead’ Could Be a More Timely ‘The Big Short’ for a New Generation
Directed by Adam McKay and featuring an insane ensemble cast including Steve Carell, Christian Bale, Brad Pitt, Ryan Gosling, and Jeremy Strong, among many others, The Big Short seems like the spiritual prequel to Jesse Armstrong’s Mountainhead. The major caveat is that the former is based on a real-life event, while HBO’s upcoming feature film is a realistic, albeit fictional, amalgamation of relevant stories and themes. However, it’s hard not to compare, and if Mountainhead lives up to expectations, it could quickly rise up among Armstrong’s acclaimed filmography and nab him and the star-studded cast more Emmy recognition down the road.
Mountainhead was executive produced by Jesse Armstrong, Frank Rich, Lucy Prebble, Jon Brown, Tony Roche, Will Tracy, Mark Mylod, and Jill Footlick. The new HBO original movie marks Armstrong’s feature-length directorial debut, but he’s no stranger to filmmaking. He was nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay at the Academy Awards for writing In the Loop, which starred Peter Capaldi, Tom Hollander, Gina McKee, James Gandolfini, and Chris Addison. With Succession ending after four seasons, Armstrong now turns to directing movies, but still remains on the small screen for now. If Mountainhead lives up to the quality of Succession, and shares some similarities with The Big Short, the film should be a must-watch for fans of both.
Source: Max
