What is Mountainhead? Succession creator's new film explained
Mountainhead sees Succession creator Jesse Armstrong's return with another fast-paced tale of obscenely wealthy people squabbling whilst the world collapses.
The writer of the hit series about a media empire headed up by Brian Cox's terrifying patriarch Logan Roy is back on familiar ground with his new film, set to debut on Sky Atlantic on Sunday, 1 June.
Here's all you need to know about Mountainhead, including its impressive cast.
The two-hour film makes its debut on Sky Artlantic on Sunday, 1 June.
It will also be available to stream on NOW, and is repeated on Sky Atlantic on Thursday, 5 and Saturday, 7 June.
Succession fans mourning the end of Armstrong's hit series will welcome his return project - a film set in a world similar to the one the Roy family occupied that follows another group of obnoxious rich people.
Billionaires Randall, Jeff and Venis head up to the mountains for a snowy weekend with super-rich tech entrepreneur Souper at his luxurious ranch. But when they turn on the news, they see that back home things are heating up as fake news spread on a social media platform owned by Venis has sparked riots that are threatening the world's economic stability.
The friends have enough money and power at their disposal to effect change immediately, but like any megalomaniac worth their billions, they soon come to the conclusion that they'd much rather leverage a global takeover instead.
Armstrong's sharp comedy dialogue and themes of gross excess have more than just echoes of Succession and the film is sure to be a must-watch for his fans.
The Peep Show creator told Variety of his new project: "It's a little bit scary after a Succession type of thing that's well-regarded. I knew it was going to be a big thing for me to do the next thing. Maybe it'd be a good idea to run at it fast rather than stewing on it for five years on my second album."
Unsurprisingly, Armstrong has attracted another big-name cast for Mountainhead.
Playing ranch owner Souper is Jason Schwartzman, who's joined by Steve Carell as Randall, Ramy Youssef as Jeff, and Cory Michael Smith as Venis.
Speaking to The Atlantic, Carell said of getting to grips with the pacy, tech-heavy script: "There was a lot of deciphering, a lot of looking up of phrases for all of us—taking notes and watching podcasts."
Meanwhile, Smith described Mountainhead as "a cousin to Succession" in a chat with Vogue and added of working with Armstrong: "He gave us space to really play around and try things out, but what we all learned very quickly was that nothing we were going to do was better than what Jesse had written. His command of language breeds envy. It's inspiring. I'd like to think of myself as a smart, clever guy, but it's very clear that he's Ivy League and I'm just…not. So, I was at his behest with every note."
Mountainhead debuts on Sky Atlantic at 9pm on Sunday, 1 June.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
HBO's ‘Harry Potter' Star Nick Frost Says He Will ‘Never' Copy Robbie Coltrane's Performance as Hagrid, But Will Be ‘Respectful to the Subject Matter': ‘I'm Really Aware of What Went Before Me'
Nick Frost will remain faithful to the performance of the late Robbie Coltrane when playing Rubeus Hagrid in the highly anticipated HBO 'Harry Potter' series. But don't expect him to be an exact copy. In a recent interview with Collider, Frost discussed how Coltrane, who played Hagrid across all eight of the original 'Harry Potter' films, will influence his take on the Hogwarts groundskeeper in HBO's upcoming 'Harry Potter' TV adaptation. Frost said he is 'really aware of what went before' him in terms of Coltrane's 'amazing performance,' but made it clear he is 'never' going to copy his work. More from Variety Everything We Know About HBO's 'Harry Potter' Series 'Harry Potter' HBO Series Casts Harry, Ron and Hermione Warner Bros. Discovery Ready to Offer Batman, Harry Potter, 'Friends' as Figures for Ads 'I'm going to try and do something, not 'different,' I think you have to be respectful to the subject matter, but within that, there's scope for minutia,' Frost explained. 'I always read Hagrid as he's like a lovely, lost, violent, funny, warm child. I think the beauty of being able to do a book a season means I get to explore that a lot more, and I can't wait.' Other cast members for HBO's 'Harry Potter' include Dominic McLaughlin as Harry Potter, Arabella Stanton as Hermione Granger, Alastair Stout as Ron Weasley, John Lithgow as Albus Dumbledore, Janet McTeer as Minerva McGonagall, Paapa Essiedu as Severus Snape, Luke Thallon as Quirinus Quirrell and Paul Whitehouse as Argus Filch. Francesca Gardiner serves as showrunner while Mark Mylod of 'Succession' serves as director. The series is executive produced by 'Harry Potter' author J.K. Rowling, Neil Blair, Ruth Kenley-Letts of Brontë Film and TV and David Heyman of Heyday Films. Each of the series' seven books will make up an entire season of the show, giving Mylod and Gardiner a chance to expand on the established stories without unraveling the source material. Best of Variety What's Coming to Netflix in June 2025 New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week 'Harry Potter' TV Show Cast Guide: Who's Who in Hogwarts?
Business Wire
17 hours ago
- Business Wire
Baker Tilly and MediSpend Expand compliance NOW suite with Launch of stewardship NOW to Transform Life Sciences Compliance
CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Building on its collaboration with MediSpend, leading advisory, tax and assurance firm Baker Tilly announces the expansion of its healthcare compliance platform, compliance NOW, with the launch of stewardshipNOW, a comprehensive compliance solution that streamlines external funding management for life sciences organizations. Powered by MediSpend, and building off of the success of engagementNOW, stewardship NOW automates the administration of grants, charitable contributions, sponsorships and investigator-initiated research funding. The solution helps life sciences companies align healthcare funding initiatives with corporate values while meeting evolving regulatory requirements. With configurable workflows, customizable portals and robust compliance oversight, stewardship NOW simplifies funding processes from submission through payment execution and reconciliation. 'stewardship NOW empowers life sciences companies to manage the complexities with external funding in a compliant, ethical and efficient way,' said Darren Jones, Baker Tilly principal, life sciences consulting. 'Our collaboration with MediSpend combines strategic insight with advanced technology, helping organizations reduce administrative burden, mitigate risk and execute their funding strategies with confidence and integrity.' Life sciences organizations rely on solutions like stewardship NOW to manage programs for continuing medical education, charitable contributions, corporate sponsorships and patient advocacy funding. Baker Tilly supports organizations in developing global philanthropy strategies, implementing robust compliance controls and driving impactful funding initiatives that respect recipient independence and align with corporate values. 'stewardship NOW marks an important next step in our continued collaboration with Baker Tilly, bringing together our built for purpose technology along with their advisory experience to help life sciences organizations more effectively create and run efficient, transparent and compliant funding programs.' said Seth Houston, Chief Commercial Officer at MediSpend. 'We're excited to continue our collaboration with Baker Tilly to support our shared clients as they make impactful contributions to the healthcare industry.' Baker Tilly and MediSpend together deliver technology-enabled solutions that help life sciences organizations navigate complex global regulations, reduce risk and improve operational efficiency. The firm's complianceNOW suite also includes: transparency NOW – A user-friendly platform that streamlines data capture, collection and reporting while helping organizations stay ahead of evolving regulations. engagement NOW – A comprehensive solution for managing engagements and interactions with healthcare professionals. kol NOW – An on-demand, self-service portal that streamlines the process of evaluating the expertise of key opinion leaders (KOLs) used in consulting engagements. fmv NOW – Direct, self-service access to fair market value (FMV) hourly rates across key opinion leader (KOL) tiers, serving as the delivery mechanism for fair market value rate analysis. For more information about Baker Tilly's compliance NOW solutions, visit: # # # About Baker Tilly ( Baker Tilly is a leading advisory, tax and assurance firm, providing clients with a genuine coast-to-coast and global advantage in major regions of the U.S. and in many of the world's leading financial centers – New York, London, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago and Boston. Baker Tilly Advisory Group, LP and Baker Tilly US, LLP (Baker Tilly) provide professional services through an alternative practice structure in accordance with the AICPA Code of Professional Conduct and applicable laws, regulations and professional standards. Baker Tilly US, LLP is a licensed independent CPA firm that provides attest services to its clients. Baker Tilly Advisory Group, LP and its subsidiary entities provide tax and business advisory services to their clients. Baker Tilly Advisory Group, LP and its subsidiary entities are not licensed CPA firms. Baker Tilly Advisory Group, LP and Baker Tilly US, LLP, trading as Baker Tilly, are independent members of Baker Tilly International, a worldwide network of independent accounting and business advisory firms in 143 territories, with 43,500 professionals and a combined worldwide revenue of $5.62 billion. Visit or join the conversation on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram. MediSpend's best-in-class solutions empower life sciences companies to grow their business compliantly through top-rated solutions and client services. MediSpend provides commercial compliance solutions for the largest pharmaceutical, medical device and dental companies as well as emerging biotech companies across the world. © Baker Tilly Advisory Group, LP
Los Angeles Times
18 hours ago
- Los Angeles Times
‘Mountainhead' is a lock for an Emmy nod. Its actors, not so much
'Mountainhead,' a satirical skewering of tech oligarchs from 'Succession' showrunner Jesse Armstrong, arrived this weekend, dropping on the final day of this year's Emmy eligibility window. I'm Glenn Whipp, columnist for the Los Angeles Times and host of The Envelope newsletter. While we're pondering the timeline to upload a human consciousness, let's consider 'Mountainhead' and its Emmy chances. Early on in 'Mountainhead,' tech bro and Elon Musk stand-in Venis Parish (Cory Michael Smith) uses film history to put the glitches of his company's latest AI rollout into perspective. 'The first time people saw a movie, everybody ran screaming because they thought they were gonna get hit by a train,' Venis relates, shouting out the Lumiere brothers' 1895 film, 'Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat Station.' 'The answer to that was not stop the movies. The answer was: Show more movies. We're gonna show users as much s— as possible, until everyone realizes nothing's that f— serious. Nothing means anything, and everything's funny and cool.' In the meantime, though, Venis' social media platform has given users the tools to create deepfakes so realistic they can't be identified as bogus. Immediately, people all over the world are uploading videos of their enemies committing atrocities, inflaming centuries-old animosities. Reality has collapsed and, with it, global stability. But for 'Mountainhead's' quartet of tech magnates, played by Smith, Steve Carell, Ramy Youssef and Jason Schwartzman, everything is just fine. As venture capitalist Randall Garrett (Carell) notes, 'We have plenty of calories stockpiled. Western countries have strategic commodity reserves, canola oil, lard, frozen orange juice.' Later, Randall asks: 'Are we the Bolsheviks of a new techno world order that starts tonight?' 'Mountainhead' is in many ways scarier than the zombie apocalypse of 'The Last of Us' because it feels like its premise is lurking right around the corner. Armstrong came up with the idea for the two-hour movie in November, after immersing himself in podcasts and books about Silicon Valley. He shot it in March, edited it in April and delivered it in May. It captures the DOGE era, specifically in the casual cruelty expressed by its entitled characters. 'Do you believe in other people?' Venis asks Randall. 'Eight billion people as real as us?' Randall's reply: 'Well, obviously not.' 'Mountainhead' aspires more directly to comedy, but because we don't have a history with these four deplorable men, it's often difficult to find the humor. 'Like 'Fountainhead' Mountainhead?' Youssef jokes to Schwartzman about the estate's title. 'Was your interior decorator Ayn Bland?' There's a procession of put-downs like that. When they're not roasting each other, they're trying to boost their own agendas — in the case of the cancer-stricken Randall, it's the quest to live forever as a disembodied consciousness. For all its Shakespearean drama, 'Succession' was wildly entertaining, more of a comedy than, yes, 'The Bear.' Kendall Roy performing the rap 'L to the OG' at a party honoring his father's half-century running Waystar Royco will be the funniest two minutes of television probably forever. But half the fun came from the characters' reactions to this transcendent moment of cringe. We were deeply invested in this world. For all their money and power, the 'Mountainhead' moguls are, like the Roy children in 'Succession,' not serious people. But beyond that, 'Mountainhead' doesn't have much of anything novel to say about its subjects. As good as Smith is at channeling Musk's alien, empathy-deficient otherness, you can come away with the same level of insight — and entertainment — by spending a few minutes watching Mike Myers on 'Saturday Night Live.' I don't need to watch a movie to know that a guy sitting on a gold toilet isn't prioritizing anyone's interests but his own. 'Mountainhead,' as mentioned, arrives on the last day of 2024-25 Emmy eligibility, less by design than from necessity. The paint's still wet on this film. But this does mark the third straight season that HBO has dropped a TV movie right before the deadline. Last year, it was 'The Great Lillian Hall,' starring Jessica Lange as fading Broadway legend. Two years ago, it was the excellent whistleblower thriller 'Reality,' featuring a star turn from Sydney Sweeney. Both movies were blanked at the Emmys, though Kathy Bates did manage a Screen Actors Guild Awards nod for 'Lillian Hall.' Did the movies land too late for enough people see them? Perhaps. The late arrival time should mean they'd be fresh in voters' minds when they fill out their ballots. But you have to be aware of them for that to happen. Awareness shouldn't be an issue with 'Mountainhead.' Enough people will want to watch the new offering from the creator of 'Succession,' and there's not much else on television vying for attention right now. 'Mountainhead' should score a nomination for television movie, even with the category being stronger than usual this year with audience favorites 'Rebel Ridge,' the latest 'Bridget Jones' movie and Scott Derrickson's enjoyable, genre-bending 'The Gorge' competing. But actors in these TV movies are at competitive disadvantage as the Emmys lump them together with their counterparts in limited series, performers who are onscreen for a much longer time. This decade, only two TV movie actors have been nominated — Hugh Jackman ('Bad Education') and Daniel Radcliffe ('Weird: The Al Yankovic Story'). The lead actress category, meanwhile, has been completely dominated by limited series. Not that there are any women starring in 'Mountainhead' because ... tech bros. As for the men, Carell, Schwartzman, Smith and Youssef are very good at conveying delusional arrogance. I despised each and every one of their characters. If hate-voting were a thing, they'd all be nominated.
