Family and business definitely don’t mix well in HBO’s forthcoming drama series Succession.
The premium cable channel has released a new, f-bomb laced trailer for Succession, which promises to explore power, politics, money, and, of course, family. Executive produced by The Big Short‘s Adam McKay, who directed the series premiere, the New York-set drama follows the Roy family, which controls one of the biggest media and entertainment conglomerates in the world. Kendall (Jeremy Strong), the eldest son of the family, expects to take over the company once his powerful father Logan (Brian Cox) steps down, but as the operatic teaser trailer above reveals, that’s not happening any time soon, which sets the stage for a familial power struggle.
In the lead-up to the show’s release, some have wondered how much of it was inspired by the Murdoch family’s media empire; however, creator/showrunner Jesse Armstrong (In the Loop) — who actually wrote a feature script about Rupert Murdoch in 2011 that never got produced — says that wasn’t the only real-life family considered during the writing process. The writers also drew on the stories of William Randolph Hearst, Robert Maxwell, and Queen Elizabeth for inspiration.
“There’s loads of succession stories to draw on,” said Armstrong at the TCAs in January, according to Variety. “We wanted to draw on all the good, rich stories there are about succession and about media and high politics.”
Succession is also executive produced by Will Ferrell, Jane Tranter (The Night Of), Mark Mylod (Entourage), Frank Rich, and Kevin Messick. It also stars Hiam Abbass, Sarah Snook, Kieran Culkin, Alan Ruck, Nicholas Braun, Matthew Macfadyen, Natalie Gold, Peter Friedman, and Rob Yang.
Watch the trailer above. The 10-episode first season begins in June on HBO.