The Studio: Why you need to watch this 'spot-on', star-studded takedown of modern Hollywood

Launching on Apple TV+, a new film industry satire co-created by and starring Seth Rogen nails the business – and features Martin Scorsese, Charlize Theron and others as themselves.

A film studio head and his team of senior executives eagerly take their seats in a private screening room to watch the new Ron Howard movie for the first time. This is work for them, but they're also beside themselves with anticipation. "I am so excited about watching this film!" says the boss. It's going to be "perfect".

Many critics have responded similarly to the series featuring this scene, Apple TV+'s film industry satire The Studio, which has generated major buzz before it even begins this week. One reviewer has called it "2025's best new show to date". Another said it was "the most entertaining and spot-on depiction of Hollywood since Robert Altman's The Player", hailing its "stellar scripts and an ensemble of actors who are having an utter blast". Yet another praises it as "a love letter to the art of filmmaking".

The 10-part comedy stars Seth Rogen as Matt Remick, the beleaguered head of a struggling film studio whose efforts to balance commercial viability with artistic integrity invariably cause problems. The Studio is sharp, funny, stylishly filmed and Rogen is a major draw in his own right, but another reason for the excitement surrounding the show is its extraordinary array of Hollywood A-listers playing themselves. They include, among others, Martin Scorsese, Ron Howard, Adam Scott, Olivia Wilde, Zoë Kravitz, Anthony Mackie, Charlize Theron, Steve Buscemi, Ice Cube, Zac Efron and Dave Franco.

Evan Goldberg, who co-created, co-directed and co-wrote the series with his childhood friend and long-time creative partner Rogen, says in the production notes for the show that, except for two who remain nameless, every actor or director they approached to play themselves was up for it: "People's only real question was, 'What's my joke">window._taboola = window._taboola || []; _taboola.push({ mode: 'alternating-thumbnails-a', container: 'taboola-below-article', placement: 'Below Article', target_type: 'mix' });