The highly anticipated third season of HBO’s Succession arrives, and with it comes the drama of Logan and the erstwhile heir apparent to his media empire Kendall going head to head in a fierce war for power, all while the dysfunctional Roy family provides all the comic relief.
Starring Jeremy Strong (Kendall) and Brian Cox (Logan), the premiere episode of the new Showtime series Succession was a great piece of television that has viewers wondering if the Roy family of media moguls is based on a real-life dynasty.
Ever since Succession first aired, analogies have been made between Logan Roy and Australian billionaire Rupert Murdoch,
who currently runs News Corp and once owned Sky, 21st Century Fox, and the News of the World, among other media outlets. Do the Murdochs serve as an inspiration for the Roy family? And if not, then on whom do they rely on? Keep reading to learn the essentials.
What Is Succession Based On?
Succession’s creator and showrunner, Jesse Armstrong, insisted before the show’s June 2018 premiere that the Roy family was entirely made up and not based on any real-life media dynasty. Instead, he said, they were inspired by a wide range of figures, including News Corp.
mogul Rupert Murdoch, Hearst namesake William Randolph Hearst, former President Donald Trump, and even Queen Elizabeth II. During an interview with Variety in 2018, Armstrong said: “Numerous examples of successful successions exist. Our goal was to draw inspiration from the many fantastic tales that have been told about succession, the media, and the highest levels of government.”
As executive producer Adam McKay explained: “See this coagulated fortune that has been passed down through the generations. The fact that Jesse’s script wasn’t centered on a single family was a big draw for me. The bigger issue is how the world reacts when such power is passed down through generations.
What sort of impact does that have on mom, dad, and the rest of the family? ” McKay commented, “It was intriguing that the media families were the most interesting and the most dramatic” among all of these famous families, from the royals to the Hollywood A-list.
It’s not surprising to find parallels between the fictional Roy family and the real-life Murdoch family: Before working on Succession, Armstrong wrote a screenplay about the Murdoch patriarch and his four adult offspring, but the project was ultimately canceled.
Read More: Is ‘Snowfall’ The Crime Thriller Series Based On True Story?
Is Succession Based on Rupert Murdoch’s Family?
The Roys are a lot like the Murdochs in many ways: both patriarchs are media moguls in their 80s and 90s, and both have children from several marriages, the vast majority of whom work in the family business.
It has been hypothesized that the four Murdoch children, Lachlan, James, Elisabeth, and Prudence, and the four ambitious children of Logan Roy, Kendall (Jeremy Strong), Shiv (Sarah Snook), Roman (Kieran Culkin), and Connor, have a lot in common (Alan Ruck).
Succession writer Jesse Armstrong has acknowledged that other media mogul families, such as the Redstones and the Mercers, have served as inspiration for the Roys.
“It’s incredible how commonplace this stuff is. Related Redstones to Sumner Redstone.
These are the Mercers. In other words, the Murdochs.
In the Black, Conrad. People have asked if the story isn’t ultimately about them. The show is based on them. And: No, “In 2019, he revealed to The New York Times. “It’s true that we do steal ideas and components from the works we read.
If you’re writing in the correct place, you might just hit reality.
However, there aren’t any moles.
” In a recent interview with Radio Times, Brian Cox, who plays Logan Roy, reinforced this point when asked if he based his character on Murdoch or even the late Robert Maxwell, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Silvio Berlusconi.
Read More: Who Is Buffalo Bill in The Movie the Silence of The Lambs? Is He Based on A Real Murderer?
How old is Rupert Murdoch?
He is still the leader of this international media conglomerate at the age of 90, and he has no plans to slow down. Prudence, Elisabeth, Lachlan, and James are the oldest of Rupert and Wendi Deng’s six children, and they are joined by Grace and Chloe, who is the youngest.
Connor, Kendall, Shiv, and Roman are the only older children of Scottish Logan Roy. As a result, it appears that there is a match. To further complicate matters, Rupert Murdoch’s eldest child, Prudence, is from a previous marriage,
while Connor and his three younger brothers all share the same mother in Succession. Anna Murdoch Mann is the mother of Lachlan, James, and Elisabeth, while Wendi Deng is the mother of Chloe and Grace.
