According to nme.com Sam Levinson, director of the upcoming HBO series The Idol, has recently discussed about how music artist The Weeknd was the first person to pitch the idea about the show.

During an interview with W Magazine Levinson mentioned how The Weeknd influenced him to create The Idol. 

“Abel came to us with a pitch. He said something that I’ll always remember: ‘If I wanted to start a cult, I could.’ What he meant is that his fans were so loyal and devoted that they would follow him anywhere. That was the germ of the idea for The Idol: what happens when a pop star falls for the wrong guy and no one speaks up.”

Two days later Levinson and The Weeknd had an outline for the show  and approached HBO with a script for the series’s pilot episode, with the network reportedly picking it up immediately.

Tesfaye and Levinson picked a fresh team to handle production on the show, which is led by director Amy Seimetz as Levinson was busy working on Euphoria at the time.

However, Seimetz’s version of The Idol underwent an overhaul in April of last year after a rough-cut was completed that led to various changes in the cast and crew, including the departure of Seimetz.

Tesfaye was reportedly concerned the dynamic between his cult figure character and Jocelyn in the original cut was “not as complex” as they had initially envisioned, which led to a “pivot”.

“Film and TV is a new creative muscle for me. I don’t release my music until I think it is great. Why would this be any different?” said Tesfaye.

Back in April of last year Deadline reported that the show was getting a rehaul as Tesfaye was unhappy with the show’s creative direction, which at the time allegedly  focused too much on “the female perspective” of Depp’s character, rather than his own.

Photo Credit: Richard Saethang