Here’s How Apple’s Spending Its Massive $1 Billion Original Content Budget Ahead Of Streaming Service Launch

By 03/21/2019
Here’s How Apple’s Spending Its Massive $1 Billion Original Content Budget Ahead Of Streaming Service Launch

Earlier this week, we found out that (perhaps unsurprisingly) no Netflix shows or films will be available through Apple’s upcoming streaming platform. The platform is reportedly on the cusp of closing deals to allow users to subscribe to and watch content from other third-party services like HBOStarz, and Showtime — but Netflix isn’t keen on that kind of partnership.

So, that begs the question: What content will be available through Apple’s service?

We already knew that the tech giant is investing heavily in original content, feeding in a whopping budget of more than $1 billion. Now, The Verge has pulled together a comprehensive list of Apple’s current projects that shows just how much content a cool billion is capable of funding.

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One thing to note off the bat is that Apple is taking a family-friendly approach to content, which means all of the series and films mentioned below are not likely to contain much — if any — nudity, swearing, or gore. Apple’s been pretty stringent about enforcing family-friendliness; it’s already axed and pushed back projects that didn’t meet standards. Last year, it canceled Vital Signs, a drama series based on rapper Dr. Dre, for being too violent. It also delayed the release of Carpool Karaoke: The Series, the first original TV show it put into production, due to concerns over language used. (The series later did become available to Apple Music subscribers, and was renewed for a second season.)

As for projects that do meet Apple’s content preferences and are currently in production, here’s a genre-by-genre roundup of everything in the pipeline:

Children’s Shows

  • Central Park, an animated musical comedy series from the creator of Bob’s Burgers. It follows a family of Central Park caretakers who must save the park — and the world.
  • Wolfwalkers, an animated film about an Irish girl who sets out to protect her country’s wolves from extinction.
  • Untitled Peanuts shorts, which will be STEM-related and follow the adventures of Astronaut Snoopy.
  • Untitled Sesame Street shows, one live-action, and one animated.

 Comedy

  • Dickinson, a half-hour comedy series about poet Emily Dickinson that explores “the constraints of society, gender, and family.” Hailee Steinfeld is set to appear as the series’ eponymous star.
  • Untitled series from the creators of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. The Hollywood Reporter printed a fairly general description for the series, saying it will “explore the intricacies of the human condition through hilarious and innovative ways.”

Drama

  • The Morning Show, set to star Steve Carell as an aging morning show anchor trying to stay relevant. Apple has already ordered two 10-episode seasons of the show, which will also star Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Aniston.
  • Little Voice, a half-hour romantic dramedy about New York City twentysomethings trying to find their unique voices. The series is produced by J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot Productions, and critically lauded musician Sara Bareilles (whose first album title is the title of the show) is executive producing.
  • Little America, an anthology series about immigration.
  • Swagger, a series based on the life of NBA forward Kevin Durant.
  • My Glory Was I Had Such Friends, a miniseries based on author Amy Silverstein‘s memoir about recovering from a heart transplant. Jennifer Garner is signed on to star as Silverstein.
  • Unnamed film from La La Land director Damien Chazelle.
  • Pachinko, a series based on a novel by Korean author Min Jin Lee, chronicles four generations of immigrants.
  • Shantaram, a series about a prisoner who escapes from Australia to Bombay.

Sci-Fi

  • Amazing Stories reboot to be run by the co-creators of Once Upon a TimeAdam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis.
  • For All Mankind, a series about a world where the Cold War space race never ended. It was created by Ron Moore, who spearheaded SyFy‘s successful reboot of Battlestar Galactica.
  • Adaptation of Isaac Asimov’s Foundation, chronicling the collapse of an interstellar empire.
  • See, an epic space drama set to star Aquaman‘s Jason Momoa as a warrior named Baba Voss.

Action and Thriller

  • Are You Sleeping, a series out to explore the dark side of the world’s current obsession with true crime podcasts. It will star Octavia Spencer.
  • Defending Jacob, an eight-episode series starring Chris Evans as a father whose teenage son is accused of murder.
  • Unnamed psychological thriller series from longtime horror writer and director M. Night Shyamalan.
  • Magic Hour, a 10-episode mystery series about a girl investigating a long-cold murder case in her father’s hometown.
  • An untitled CIA drama starring Brie Larson.

Documentaries

  • Home, a 10-episode docuseries about weird and wonderful homes.
  • Elephant Queen, a film following a female elephant who leads her herd in a journey away from their longtime home to find food and water.
  • Losing Earth, a climate change documentary.

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