Entertainment
Which Family is Succession Based On? All About the HBO Show
The resemblance is uncanny!
Succession is an American satirical comedy-drama television series developed by Jesse Armstrong, which aired on HBO from June 3, 2018, until May 28, 2023.
Succession follows the Roy family, which runs the worldwide media corporation Waystar RoyCo in New York City. Logan Roy, the family patriarch, has deteriorated in health.
His four children, alienated oldest son Connor Roy, power-hungry Kendall Roy, irreverent Roman Roy, and politically savvy Siobhan ‘Shiv’ Roy, all with varied degrees of connection to the corporation, begin to plan for a future without their father and compete for prominence inside the company.
Brian Cox played the role of Logan Roy, Jeremy Strong portrayed Kendall, Kieran Culkin played the role of Roman, and Sarah Snook portrayed Shiv — all critically acclaimed for their role.
The HBO show was considered one of the best shows when it aired from 2018 to 2023. It gained critical acclaim for its narrative, acting, humor, musical score, direction, production qualities, and study of its subject matter spanning all four seasons.
The series has won several honors and nominations, including two Golden Globe nominations for Best Television Series – Drama, two Primetime Emmy nominations for Outstanding Drama Series in 2020 and 2022, and the British Academy Television Award for Best International Programme.
All in all, Succession was loved by fans and critics alike. That said, many might not know that the HBO show is based on a real family. So, which family is Succession based on? Well, Succession was based on the Murdoch family.
Which family is ‘Succession’ based on?
The Murdoch family members are notable multinational media magnates and tycoons with origins in Australia and the United Kingdom and media interests in the United States. Some members have also held positions of prominence in the arts, religion, and the military.
All in all, the Murdoch family has been the powerhouse for generations.
Rupert Murdoch, the star of the third generation of the Murdoch family, is best known as one of the founders and owner of News Corporation, the world’s largest media corporation until it was spun off in mid-2013, dividing its entertainment assets to 21st Century Fox and its media publishing holdings to establish the new News Corp.
The Murdochs retain a majority interest in the remaining assets of The Walt Disney Company’s acquisition of 21st Century Fox, which were spun off to Fox Corporation, and continue to serve as senior executives of News Corporation.
Rupert is well-known not just for his massive media empire but also for his fascinating marriage past. Murdoch has had four noteworthy marriages throughout the years.
His first marriage was to Patricia Booker, a Melbourne flight attendant. Their daughter, Prudence Murdoch MacLeod, was born as a result of their marriage.
Although this marriage lasted over a decade, it finally ended, laying the groundwork for Murdoch’s later marriages. Rupert then married Anna Maria Torv, a Scottish journalist of Estonian heritage.
Rupert Murdoch with his second wife and children. (Source: Instagram)
Torv, who worked for Murdoch’s Sydney Daily Telegraph, was an essential figure in his life for over three decades. The couple’s three children were Elizabeth Murdoch, Lachlan Murdoch, and James Murdoch.
Elisabeth has now risen to prominence in the media world, while Lachlan and James have also worked for their father’s media company. Rupert married Wendi Deng, a Chinese-American media executive and corporate director, in 1999 in a high-profile wedding.
Grace Murdoch and Chloe Murdoch were the couple’s two kids. The marriage gained notice because of the significant age difference and its impact on Murdoch’s career and personal life.
The marriage, however, ended in 2013 when Rupert filed for divorce, citing irreconcilable differences. Rupert married Jerry Hall, an American model and actress, marking his fourth marriage.
Despite the early curiosity about their married life, the couple had difficulties, which led to their divorce in 2022.
Similarities between ‘Succession’ and the Murdoch family
Both families feature an aging patriarch who has worked at his firm far past the normal retirement age. Rupert, 92, went back into the post of Fox News chairman after the expulsion of the late Roger Ailes and currently serves as chairman of Fox Corporation.
The two command vast media empires spanning television, cinema, publishing, and digital. Rupert is considered a ruthless businessman who fights competitors by buying them out or driving them out of business, similar to Logan in the HBO show.
Rupert and Logan have been married many times and have offspring from various relationships. A person close to the Murdoch family told Vanity Fair that Rupert felt a Darwinian battle would produce the most capable successor and put his children against each other throughout their childhood, just like Logan did in the series.
The most obvious visual similarity between Rupert and Logan happened in the final season when Logan’s lecture about paper boxes echoed a similar occasion when Rupert delivered a speech about boxes to the WSJ office in 2007.
Since Rupert has a lot of children, it isn’t easy to see who Connor, Kendall, Roman, and Shiv are based on. Connor is believed to be based on Rupert’s eldest child, Prudence.
Prudence is an Australian-British media sector, non-executive director. She has held many executive positions in her father’s News Corporation and presently serves on the board of Times Newspapers Ltd, a part of News Corporation.
Prudence and Connor are the patriarchs’ eldest children. Both are only children from prior marriages, and both are disinterested in working in the family company.
Connor is the “forgotten” kid in Succession, as he is frequently kept out of the Roy brothers’ transactions. Kendall refers to himself as “the eldest son” in a scene from season three before being corrected by an enraged Connor, who claims he is Logan’s eldest son.
While there is no proof that Prudence had the same treatment as her Murdoch siblings, it is reported that Prudence disagreed with her father, Rupert, when he referred to his ‘three children’ by excluding Prudence in a 1997 news conference.
Prudence revealed that she and her father argued over the event on the phone until Rupert apologized by sending “the biggest bunch of flowers – it was bigger than a sofa – and two clementine trees.”
Kendall, Roman, and Shiv are believed to be based on Rupert’s children from his second marriage — Lachlan, James, and Elizabeth.
Lachlan was the business’s initial heir apparent, but he unexpectedly left amid internal differences over the cable news network’s future. It is reported that Lachlan spent some time working on his own company, Illyria, before returning to the family business as a non-executive co-chairman of News Corporation and 21st Century Fox.
Similarly, on Succession, Kendall is groomed to take over his father’s business – until Logan changes his mind. Throughout the four seasons of the sitcom, Kendall attempts multiple unsuccessful hostile takeovers of his father’s empire before leaving to create his firms, only to return to the family business later.
Murdoch’s youngest son, James, was considered the heir apparent when his elder brother, Lachlan, resigned in 2005. In 2011, James was named deputy COO of News Corporation, a post identical to Roman in the first season of Succession.
However, he finally stepped down from the position in 2020 due to conflicts over editorial material. On the HBO show, Roman’s biography follows a similar trend: he is not initially a candidate to take over his father’s firm until his elder brother Kendall departs it.
He would work closely with his father until finally abandoning the firm and attempting to take over with his siblings.
Like Shiv, Rupert’s only daughter from his second marriage is Elisabeth. Elisabeth is the most similar to Rupert, sharing his cunning and savviness.
However, Rupert is said to disdain her ambitions to advance in the family firm. On the HBO show, Shiv shares a close connection with her father. She, like Kendall, was offered the position of CEO but was ultimately considered unprepared to take on the post.
Shiv is publically shut down by her father in various instances during the program, leaving it unclear whether Logan considered her a viable candidate for the top position in the first place.
While the Succession showrunners may deny that the drama is modeled on any one family, the parallels between the fictitious Roy family and the Murdoch family are difficult to ignore.
Entertainment
Three True-Crime Documentaries Coming to Netflix in April 2024
Time to snuggle with a cozy blanket and some popcorns!
Netflix has a wide range of TV shows and movies.
Alongside them, Netflix also hosts a lot of documentaries. It has a wide range of documentaries but the true-crime genre is the one that has its audience sitting on the edge of their seats.
There are various true-crime documentaries and docuseries on the platform, including American Nightmare, Girl in the Picture, Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich, Tiger King, and Don’t F**k with Cats: Hunting an Internet Killer, among others.
In April 2024, various documentaries and docuseries are coming to Netflix. However, the three most anticipated true-crime shows are — What Jennifer Did, Crime Scene Berlin: Nightlife Killer, and Files of the Unexplained.
Here is all we know about it.
‘What Jennifer Did’
What Jennifer Did is an upcoming documentary directed by Jenny Popplewell, the creator of another famous Netflix documentary, American Murder: The Family Next Door.
What Jennifer Did digs into the frightening story of Jennifer Pan, who plotted to murder her parents. The crime, disguised as a heist gone wrong, unravels through police interrogation film and interviews, showing Pan’s network of lies leading up to the incident.
Pan is a Canadian woman who was convicted of a 2010 kill-for-hire attack on her parents, which killed her mother and injured her father. The crime occurred at the Pan house in Unionville, Markham, Ontario, in the Greater Toronto Area.
According to her exact account, several gunmen entered the house, forcefully retrained her and her parents, then shot them. Her father, Huei Hann, was sent to the hospital, and her mother, Bich Ha, died instantaneously.
A whole new image appears as the law enforcement personnel piece together the facts. Pan plotted the entire operation with her drug dealer boyfriend, Daniel Wong, whom her parents had forbidden her from dating.
This motivated her to seek his help and devise a plan to murder her parents. This threatening notion was carried out in the form of a burglary, with Pan as the victim. The documentary will also concentrate on her arrest and the legal processes.
What Jennifer Did will be released on April 10, 2024.
‘Crime Scene Berlin: Nightlife Killer’
As the name of the documentary suggests, Crime Scene Berlin: Nightlife Killer is based on true events that occurred in Berlin. The series examines the case of several odd and unusual killings.
In 2012, three guys were murdered and robbed in Berlin after being unintentionally drugged. While the murderer was called ‘The Darkroom Murderer’ at the time, just one occurred in a dark room at a homosexual bar in Berlin.
‘Crime Scene Berlin: Nightlife Killer’ will be released on April 3, 2024. (Source: Netflix)
However, the murderer did look for guys in and around the city’s party scene to prey on victims. Only when one of his targets survived his attack and the assassin attempted to purchase a train ticket with one of the deceased men’s credit cards did the inquiry begin to narrow.
Jan Zabeil and Caroline Schaper directed this true crime show and Netflix will begin streaming the series on April 3, 2024.
‘Files of the Unexplained’
Files of the Unexplained is an upcoming terrifying eight-episode docu-series that talks about strange encounters, weird disappearances, disturbing incidents, the mystery of mutilated feet washing up, and more.
This investigative documentary series examines genuine stories that defy explanations and talk about witnessing weird encounters and strange events.
Files of the Unexplained kind of dives into a similar area as its previous documentaries like Unsolved Mysteries, Haunted, and 28 Days Haunted. According to its plot on Netflix, the series is described as “Eerie encounters, bizarre disappearances, haunting events, and more perplexing phenomena are explored in this chilling investigative docuseries.”
The docuseries will be released on April 3, 2024.
Entertainment
‘Cowboy Carter’ — Everything You Need to Know About Beyonce’s New Album
The album will be released on March 29, 2024.
When Beyoncé announced her 2022 album Renaissance, she made it clear that it was merely the first installment of a multi-act body of work.
And now, after over two years of waiting, the singer has revealed that Act II is on the way — Cowboy Carter. Cowboy Carter, also known as Act II: Cowboy Carter or just Act II, is Beyoncé’s eighth studio album, set to be released on March 29, 2024, by Parkwood Entertainment and Columbia Records.
It is the second chapter of Beyoncé’s trilogy project, developed during the COVID-19 epidemic, and follows Renaissance (2022).
The then-untitled album was first announced on February 11, 2024, during Super Bowl LVIII, when Verizon Communications aired a Super Bowl commercial, titled ‘Can’t B Broken,’ in which Beyoncé tried to ‘break the Internet’ by doing increasingly outlandish means — from releasing a jazz saxophone record and performing on top of the Las Vegas Sphere to building an AI version of herself and launching a “Barbey” doll collection.
After all of the ideas failed, Beyoncé closed the advertisement by saying, “Okay, they ready. Drop the new music.” Following the broadcast, the singer shared a preview video for Act II on Instagram.
The video paid tribute to the 1984 movie, Paris, Texas, which mentions border blasters, and incorporates Chuck Berry’s 1955 song ‘Maybellene.’ The singer’s official website was updated the same day, announcing her eighth studio album, Act II, which would be released on March 29, 2024.
The album’s two main singles, ‘Texas Hold ‘Em’ and ‘16 Carriages,’ were then made available for digital download and streaming. On March 12, 2024, Beyoncé stated that the album would be called Cowboy Carter via a teaser poster with a western saddle and sash.
She released the album cover on Instagram on March 19, 2024, and teased surprises and collaborations on the album. On March 20, 2024, she unveiled a limited edition unique cover featuring a ribbon that says “act ii BEYINCÉ,” referring to a generational family surname.
On March 27, 2024, she unveiled the album’s tracklist via a themed poster. She shared a graphic on Instagram of the album’s tracklist, which was inspired by classic Chitlin’ Circuit posters.
Cover of Beyoncé’s eighth studio album, ‘Cowboy Carter.’ (Source: Instagram)
It includes the titles “Dolly P” and “Smoke Hour Willie Nelson,” implying possible collaborations with Dolly Parton and Willie Nelson. Similarly, ‘Jolene,’ was written on the poster, which netizens believe is a cover or reinterpretation of the Parton’s song of the same name.
‘The Linda Martell Show,’ has also been mentioned on the poster, possibly referring to the first Black woman to achieve commercial success in the country genre.
The themed poster revealing the album’s tracklist has been confusing a lot of netizens. The following things have been mentioned on the poster, so possibly, these are the songs on the album.
They are — ‘Texas Hold ‘Em,’ ‘16 Carriages,’ ‘Ameriican Requiem,’ ‘Blackbiird,’ ‘Protector,’ ‘My Rose,’ ‘Bodyguard,’ ‘Daughter,’ ‘Spaghettii,’ ‘Alliigator Tears,’ ‘Smoke Hour Willie Nelson,’ ‘Smoke Hour II,’ ‘Just for Fun,’ ‘II Most Wanted,’ ‘Levii’s Jeans,’ ‘Flamenco,’ ‘Ya Ya,’ ‘Oh Louisiana,’ ‘Desert Eagle,’ ‘Riiverdance,’ ‘Tyrant,’ ‘II Hands II Heaven,’ ‘Sweet Honey Buckin’,’ ‘Amen,’ ‘Jolene,’ and ‘The Linda Martell Show.’
It looks like we will only get to know the collaborations and tracklist of Cowboy Carter after its release on March 29, 2024.
Entertainment
‘Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey 2’ Debuted With 100% Rotten Tomatoes
“A drastic improvement over its novel predecessor.”
When Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey was released back on March 10, 2023, it was not received well.
It was neither liked by critics nor the audience. At the time of writing, it has 3% on Tomatometer out of 62 reviews and a 50% audience score.
Looking at the previous installment, many believed that the second movie — Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey 2 — would not do well. However, it came with a massive comeback.
It debuted with 100% on Tomatometer and at the time of writing, it has 56% with 18 reviews. One of the critics wrote, “Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey 2 is a drastic improvement over its novel predecessor, even if it suffers from some of the same problems.”
“This flawed but enjoyable sequel defies expectations — albeit low ones — and outperforms its predecessor on most levels,” another critic quipped.
By the looks of it, the audience is loving the second movie more than the first. It has an 83% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes with over 250 audience reviews.
Giving reviews on the movie, one netizen wrote, “Really fun twist on a classic. Directing acting and plot was fantastic. Not corny like most movies just fun and worth the watch.”
“This sequel was incredibly enjoyable! Despite my appreciation for the first film, this one surpassed it 1000% with its fantastic kills, (so much fun brutal, gory kills) the enhanced appearance of Pooh and friends, and a captivating storyline that kept me interested throughout. I’m eager to add this movie to my collection,” another commented.
Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey 2 is a 2024 British indie horror film directed by Rhys Frake-Waterfield and written by Matt Leslie. It is the second installment in the Twisted Childhood Universe (TCU) and a follow-up to Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey (2023), a horror reinterpretation of A. A. Milne and E. H. Shepard’s Winnie-the-Pooh stories.
The film stars Scott Chambers as Christopher Robin and Ryan Oliva as the eponymous figure, with Tallulah Evans, Eddy MacKenzie, Lewis Santer, Marcus Massey, and Simon Callow in support.
In a June 2022 interview with Dread Central, Frake-Waterfield showed interest in making a sequel to Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey, stating that he wants to ramp it up even more, go even crazier, and go even more extreme. In September 2023, teaser photographs were revealed revealing the new character Owl.
The film contains a fresh cast and character designs, and it is set in the Ashdown town rather than the Hundred Acre Wood. Furthermore, the character Tigger, who was absent from the original film, reappeared after entering the public domain in January 2024.
The film’s budget was first rumored to be five times bigger than its predecessor, it was subsequently revealed that the budget had climbed to ten times that of the previous picture. Shaune Harrison, who has previously worked on the Harry Potter franchise and Game of Thrones, was the film’s monster and gore designer, while Paula Anne Booker oversaw the special effects.
In the movie, Winnie-the-Pooh, Piglet, Tigger, and Owl’s house and life are jeopardized as Robin discovers their presence. Not wishing to remain in the shadows any longer, the group resolves to go on a rampage through Robin’s native village of Ashdown to exact their retribution once and for all.
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