Showtime has revealed images of the upcoming series Super Pumped, giving fans a first look at stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Kyle Chandler as powerful players in the tech industry. An anthology series, Super Pumped will tackle a variety of triumphs and controversies from the business world. Season 1 will kick off the anthology format by focusing on the rise of Uber, as detailed in Mike Isaac’s bestselling book Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber. Gordon-Levitt stars as the rideshare app’s co-founder and CEO Travis Kalanick, with Chandler co-starring as his mentor, the venture capitalist Bill Gurley.
Billions creators Brian Koppelman and David Levien will serve as writers, executive producers, and showrunners on Super Pumped. Gordon-Levitt and Chandler are joined by an impressive roster of cast members, including Richard Schiff, Jessica Hecht, John Michael Higgins, Elisabeth Shue, Kerry Bishé, Jon Bass, Bridget Gao Hollitt, and Babak Tafti. Uma Thurman joined the Super Pumped cast in October. She will play The Huffington Post co-founder and Uber board member Arianna Huffington. Hank Azaria will also appear as Apple CEO Tim Cook.
Now Showtime has shared the first stills from the upcoming series on Twitter, with the network riffing on Uber’s recognizable notification: “Your first look has arrived.” The first image shows Gordon-Levitt channeling the ambitious, reckless CEO in a slick tech office. The second photo showcases the complicated relationship between Kalanick and Gurley as they meet—perhaps not so happily—in an airfield. Check out the first-look images below:
Super Pumped will tell the story of Uber from the perspective of Kalanick, whose aggressive leadership and disregard for the company’s unethical corporate culture led to him being ousted as CEO in 2017. Gurley, who had a close relationship with Kalanick, was instrumental in his mentee’s resignation. The series is an ideal match for Gordon-Levitt, who himself is involved in the tech world, having founded the award-winning media platform HitRecord. He’s also played iconic tech-centric figures before, including Edward Snowden in Oliver Stone’s Snowden. Kyle Chandler, meanwhile, is frequently cast as morally upright mentor types, whether it’s in Friday Night Lights or as an FBI agent in The Wolf of Wall Street.
Per the synopsis, Super Pumped will track the “roller-coaster ride of one of Silicon Valley's most successful and most destructive companies” and the “tense internal and external battles that ripple with unpredictable consequences." If all goes well with the show, Koppelman and Levien will have countless companies to choose from for future installments—with the potential exception of Facebook, which Aaron Sorkin might want for himself. Super Pumped premieres February 27 on Showtime.
Source: Showtime