Super Pumped Teaser: Joseph Gordon-Levitt And Kyle Chandler Wage A Battle For Uber
We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.
Showtime has released a new trailer for the upcoming first installment in a new anthology series. "Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber" will premiere on Sunday, February 27, 2022 at 10 p.m. ET/PT, and it's all about the rise and fall of Travis Kalanick, the founder of Uber. The ride-sharing service may have changed the way we travel, but it had a whole lot of baggage that came along with it. The first trailer gave off some strong "The Wolf of Wall Street" vibes and not in a good way. I was very worried that Kalanick would be glorified the way Jordan Belfort was in that film. (They gave the man a cameo. I know people who were hurt in that scandal and it's not okay.)
Thankfully, I don't feel quite the same way seeing the second trailer. It doesn't seem like "Super Pumped" will make Kalanick out to be fun party guy who just happened to screw over a lot of people. Sure, that's there, but what I want to see is the comeuppance, and that appears to be in the cards. Plus, Uma Thurman's Ariana Huffington portrayal seems right on the money, and while I know that's not the point, it helps sell the show's authenticity.
The Battle for Uber
"Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber" stars Emmywinner Joseph Gordon-Levitt ("The Trial of the Chicago 7"), Emmy winner Kyle Chandler ("Bloodline," "Friday Night Lights") and Oscar and Emmy nominee Uma Thurman ("Kill Bill," "Pulp Fiction"), with the first season of the anthology seres based on Mike Isaac's bestselling book of the same name. Brian Koppelman and David Levien ("Billions," "Rounders") and Beth Schacter ("Soundtrack") executive produce, write and serve as showrunners on the series.
Since this is the first installment of the "Super Pumped" anthology series, a presumed second season would follow a new story about a big business venture that changed the world and the culture. Here is the officialy synopsis for "The Battle for Uber" from Showtime:
SUPER PUMPED:THE BATTLE FOR UBER tells the story of one of Silicon Valley's most successful and most destructive unicorns, Uber. The season pivots on Travis Kalanick (Gordon-Levitt), Uber's hard-charging CEO who was ultimately ousted in a boardroom coup, and his sometimes tumultuous relationship with his mentor Bill Gurley (Chandler), the plainspoken, brilliant Texan venture capitalist who bets his sterling reputation on Uber's success – and then has to live with the consequences. Thurman stars as Arianna Huffington, the savvy businesswoman and co-founder of The Huffington Post, who was an Uber board member. The SHOWTIME series 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.
Which big business event would you like to see "Super Pumped" tackle next? Let us know over at @slashfilm.