Jesse Armstrong returning to film in next HBO project

Listen up, sickos and slime puppies! Jesse Armstrong is finally back in the HBO office to say… yo. Only this time, despite creating one of the best television series of the decade thus far, he’s transferring to a slightly different department.

The Succession creator has finally set his next project for the platform, and it’s (gasp!) a film. But while we won’t be revisiting everyone’s favorite eldest boy after that harrowing finale, it sounds like the project might deal with some similar themes. We don’t know much yet, but Deadline reports that the story will revolve around “four friends who meet up during the turmoil of an ongoing international financial crisis.” Sounds super escapist and not stressful at all! 

Armstrong has proven himself over and over to be an incredibly canny observer of sociopolitical momentum (and the rot underneath), so it’s not hard to guess what sort of tariffs trends could have inspired this new project. Armstrong is currently writing the script, but the movie is being fast-tracked, according to the trade. Cast availabilities are already being checked, and the studio is looking to go into production later this year.

It’s good that Armstrong took a (well-deserved) two-year break from his writing desk; the way he talks about the process is rather intense. “For me, it’s like the difference between medical drugs and psychoactive recreational drugs,” he reflected about working on Succession. “We are not producing a medical drug which is if you take this thing it will cure your democracy. Absolutely not. That’s not my business. But it may be a positive form of psychoactive or recreational drugs, something you might enjoy or might make you see the world a little differently. But there are dangers with those drugs too. I think that’s that’s the business I’m in: Recreational drugs, not pharmaceuticals.”

We haven’t had writing like that—even in interviews—for too long. It’ll be good to have you back, Jesse.