Apple TV+ snaps up the rights to Jake Gyllenhaal thriller Snow Blind

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Snow Blind 1
Apple TV+'s latest acquisition sounds like it's a winner.
Photo: BOOM! Studios

Apple has acquired the movie rights to an adaptation of graphic novel Snow Blind, starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Deadline reported over the weekend.

The movie (and the 2017 graphic novel it was based on) is about a teenager, Teddy, who finds out that his family have been in the Witness Protection Program for years. Now someone after revenge has managed to locate them.

Snow Blind is being directed by Gustav Möller of 2018’s The Guilty in his first English language film. Patrick Ness, author A Monster Calls, is the scriptwriter. It is based on a graphic novel written by Ollie Masters of The Kitchen.

Apple TV+ movies and bidding during coronavirus

Apple reportedly won a hotly contested bidding war with six studios all trying to obtain the movie rights. The Deadline article shares some details of the coronavirus era-pitching process which led to the sale:

“In pandemic pitching, prospective bidders received a link to a recorded video of the pitch with an introduction from Gyllenhaal and the filmmaker, with Ness guiding buyers through the story in a multimedia presentation that might well set the tone in how to set things up in the age of COVID-19. The town responded enthusiastically to the format and a pitch that’s Prisoners meets Running On Empty. Gyllenhaal took part in followup Zoom meetings.”

This is the latest of several A-list movies Apple has acquired. Earlier this year, it debuted its first movie on Apple TV+ with The Banker, starring Samuel L Jackson and others. Last week, Apple debuted World War II movie Greyhound, starring and written by Tom Hanks. It has also acquired the Antoine Fuqua and Will Smith movie Emancipation, and Martin Scorsese’s upcoming Killers of the Flower Moon, which stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro.

While Apple still lags behind the likes of Netflix and Disney+ in quantity of movies, it’s certainly looking to make up for it with quality. No word on when Snow Blind will debut on Apple TV+.

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