Sure, Succession is doing wonders for the public image of billionaires and media moguls over at HBO, but Showtime’s Billions beat them to the punch two years prior. And while both shows have had a great deal of satirical fun at the elite’s expense, the latter program’s wider canvas allows co-creators Brian Koppelman and David Levien to do more than Jesse Armstrong’s Roy family-focused critique. Thanks to New York Times journalist Mike Isaac’s recent book Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber, though, the Billions team is soon to adopt a far more singular approach.
Showtime announced on Wednesday that Koppelman and Levien would executive produce and write a new limited series about the ride-sharing company based on Super Pumped. Per the premium cable network’s official press release, the show will center on Uber’s ex-CEO Travis Kalanick, who was infamously “ousted in a boardroom coup”:
[The show] will depict the roller-coaster ride of the upstart transportation company, embodying the highs and lows of Silicon Valley. Even amid the radical upheaval generated within the global tech capital, Uber stands out as both a marvel and a cautionary tale, featuring internal and external battles that ripple with unpredictable consequences.
In a statement, Showtime’s president of entertainment, Jana Winograde, said “the story of Uber is rich in plot twists, one-of-a-kind personalities and important implications for corporate America. It is a case study of ingenuity and insanity, and there are no writers better suited than Brian and David to explore this business and the people who drive it, literally and metaphorically.”
Isaac, who shared his mutual excitement about the announcement with Koppelman on Twitter, will co-executive produce the limited series.
it’s a dream this is going to happen! framing that DM on my wall
— rat king 🐀 (@MikeIsaac) October 16, 2019
