Seth Rogen is raising the stakes for “The Studio” Season 2 while also offering an encouraging update on Disney+’s “Darkwing Duck” revival, two projects that reflect the very different corners of entertainment he is currently navigating.
Speaking on Variety’s “Awards Circuit” podcast at the Middleburg Film Festival, Rogen said the next season of “The Studio” will explore the awards game from a studio’s perspective, feature multiple major guest appearances and experiment even further with episodes unfolding in real time.
“The Studio” Goes Deeper Into Awards Season
Rogen declined to reveal which of his own awards-season humiliations could inspire the show, answering only, “You’ll see.” He did confirm, however, that campaigning and the pursuit of industry recognition will run through the new season.
“This idea of playing the awards game as a studio is definitely a theme explored throughout the season,” he said.
Season 2 will also include several appearances that Rogen described as “really unbelievable.” The actor and filmmaker said directing some of those guests ranked among the most frightening experiences of his life. The creative team aimed to be more ambitious, securing people they admired for larger roles while examining their own feelings and conflicts about the industry.
The show’s format is expanding, too. According to Rogen, the coming season contains more episodes within a more compressed timeline. He said there are technically several installments with essentially no cuts, structured as real-time, half-hour slices of action.
Awards recognition for the first season had a practical effect behind the scenes. Rogen said the show’s wins helped the team obtain things for Season 2 that probably would not have been possible during its debut season.
His own understanding of awards culture changed after “Steve Jobs.” Before that film, he had attended TIFF and South by Southwest for premieres, but “Steve Jobs” brought his first trips to Telluride and the New York Film Festival. He compared the experience to being admitted into a previously hidden section of the business.
“Darkwing Duck” Is Taking Shape at Disney+
Rogen is equally enthusiastic about the recently announced “Darkwing Duck” revival, which is being made for Disney+. Mark Hamill has a role, while another potentially significant casting remains under wraps.
“We just cast a Scrooge McDuck who might be the most exciting casting I could ever imagine,” Rogen said, without identifying the performer.
The project has been in development for years and encountered corporate restructurings along the way. Rogen said he has watched episodes and praised both the animation and the inventiveness of the work.
He is also pleased that the revival became a television project rather than a movie. The episodic format was part of its appeal, he explained, adding that the team believed any new version of “Darkwing Duck” needed to be made at the highest possible level.
Rogen said his affection for the property was reinforced when he revisited the original episodes years ago. He was struck by how meta the show was, particularly its fourth-wall breaks and commentary on other programs he watched at the same age.
From “The Invite” to the 10-Year Journey of “Tangles”
Rogen’s current slate also includes two sharply contrasting movies. Olivia Wilde’s A24 dinner-party film “The Invite” casts him as Joe, whose troubled marriage is tested during an agonizing evening with upstairs neighbors played by Penélope Cruz and Edward Norton. The film is streaming on HBO Max.
Rogen credited Wilde with allowing the actors to reshape the movie’s tone during production. He said she welcomed newly created humor, gave Norton room for dramatic monologues and allowed Rogen’s jokes to undercut those moments. He called the process new and gratifying, noting that Wilde could have left much of his material out during editing.
“Tangles,” meanwhile, is a hand-drawn, black-and-white animated feature adapted from Sarah Leavitt’s graphic memoir about her mother’s Alzheimer’s disease. Directed by first-time feature filmmaker Leah Nelson, the Point Grey Pictures production features the voices of Rogen, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Abbi Jacobson, Bryan Cranston and Samira Wiley.
The film took 10 years to make. Rogen estimated that approximately seven years went into development, financing, casting and script work, followed by about three years of production. Because the animation was hand-drawn, the team could not repeatedly rebuild major sections in the manner of some large studio productions.
Independent Film Company and Sapan Studio will open “Tangles” in theaters this year for an awards-qualifying run, followed by a wider expansion in early 2027.
ShowBiz Take
Rogen’s updates reveal a slate defined less by one lane than by creative contrast. “The Studio” is using its own awards success to intensify its satire, “Darkwing Duck” is embracing an episodic comeback, and “Tangles” represents a decade-long commitment to an unconventional animated story.
Most significantly, the success of “The Studio” has already changed what its creators can attempt. Season 2 is not simply continuing the series: it is pursuing bigger guests, more demanding filmmaking and a deeper examination of the industry that rewarded it.
What Happens Next?
Release dates for “The Studio” Season 2 and “Darkwing Duck” were not disclosed in the conversation. The identity of the newly cast Scrooge McDuck also remains secret. The next confirmed release movement comes from “Tangles,” with its awards-qualifying theatrical run this year and broader expansion planned for early 2027.