‘Succession’ Producer’s Series About a Crumbling European Dictatorship to Debut in 2024

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Kate Winslet in "The Regime." (Warner Bros. Discovery)

Viewers who loved the family scheming and power-hungry infighting of the Roy family on HBO's "Succession" don't have to (entirely) mourn the end of the series. "Succession" executive producer Will Tracy will release a new series in 2024 on the Max streaming service. "The Regime" stars Kate Winslet as the authoritarian ruler of a failing European country.

Not much is known about this new limited series, which also stars Martha Plimpton ("The Goonies," "Raising Hope") as an American envoy to the regime's ruler and Hugh Grant ("Love Actually") in a yet unannounced role. Warner Bros. Discovery revealed a teaser for the series at an April 2023 press event.

The two-minute teaser sets up the show with a meeting between Plimpton's U.S. diplomat and Winslet's ruler of what appears to be a fictional country (judging from the flags in the room). The regime's leader seems dubious about American intentions with her government, while the United States ensures her that it's in America's best interest to keep her rule going.

"We need you to demonstrate credibility to us -- trustworthiness," Plimpton's character says, seemingly setting up a tit-for-tat arrangement to stay in power with American backing.

"All we are doing is realizing our dream -- our dream of a new Europe, without limits, without cruelty. There are times when one must choose the hardest road. I've chosen that road, but I have done so in the name of liberty," Winslet's voice says over imagery from a dictator's playbook, including mass arrest and media suppression.

Also included are scenes of what could either be an armed insurrection against the regime, or a pro-regime militia, along with flashes of other potentially unhinged authoritarian behavior. Dictators tend to get more and more eccentric the longer they stay in power.

The show's writers, along with Tracy, are Seth Reiss ("The Menu"), Juli Weiner ("Last Week Tonight with John Oliver"), Jen Spyra ("The Late Show with Stephen Colbert"), Sarah DeLappe and Soviet-born author Gary Shteyngart.

-- Blake Stilwell can be reached at blake.stilwell@military.com. He can also be found on Twitter @blakestilwell or on LinkedIn.

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