Swagger, the Apple TV+ series based on Kevin Durant’s experiences in youth basketball, finally found its lead actor. Winston Duke, most recognizable for his role as M’Baku in Marvel’s Black Panther movie, reportedly landed the top role in the show.
Swagger should start production later this month.
Disney+ and Apple TV+ may not have made their debut yet, but their influence is already showing up in the market place. Netflix, the established guard of streaming content, recently launched a new strategy to hook subscribers.
For one of its new shows, Netflix is offering the first episode for free — even if you’re not a Netflix subscriber.
Apple’s full lineup of shows for the upcoming launch of Apple TV+ is starting to come into clearer focus ahead of the big November 1 launch. The iPhone-maker shared three new teaser trailers this morning showcasing what it has in store for kids and its educational shows might be some of Apple’s best content.
The new minute-length teaser trailers for Ghostwriter and Helpsters don’t divulge much details about the plot. However, the new Snoopy in Space trailer provides a solid peek at the Peanuts gang as they help Snoopy try to become a NASA astronaut.
Watch all three:
Apple TV+ may not be the only place to enjoy Apple’s original movies. Sources say Cupertino wants to bring its content to theaters in an effort to attract top Hollywood directors.
The move would also make Apple’s movies eligible for big awards.
Plenty of folks are buzzing over Apple’s shift to services. From Apple Arcade to iCloud to Apple TV+, Apple’s got a new lucrative business stream which could pick up some of the slack from falling hardware sales.
Keybanc analyst Andy Hargreaves isn’t convinced, however. In fact, he points out that not only are services a competitive market (which everyone knows), but that Apple may actually be headed in the wrong direction.
After months of beta testing, the full version of tvOS 13 launched to the public today. Updates to the Apple TV operating system don’t often make headlines, but this one stands out because it brings support for the all-you-play Apple Arcade service.
tvOS 13 also allows some off-the-shelf game controllers to be used, as well as non-game improvements.
Disney CEO Bob Iger finally spoke about his recent resignation from Apple’s board of directors in an interview with Mad Money host Jim Cramer.
Iger resigned from Apple’s board earlier this month. As many people speculated, Iger says he felt it was time for him to step aside because of Apple TV+.
Apple may be a relative latecomer to the streaming video arena but media consultant Michael J. Wolf of Activate Consulting thinks that it’s got a big advantage. Along with Amazon, that is.
In an interview with CNBC‘s “Squawk Box,” Wolf laid out reason why. And it’s a twist on the old Alan Kay saying that a company serious about software should build its own hardware, too.
Apple is using its Apple Store “Today at Apple” creative sessions to showcase Apple TV+ content. As part of upcoming events at its newly reopened Fifth Avenue Apple Store, Apple will focus on promoting films and TV shows from its streaming video service.
In one case this will involve an appearance from the crew behind the production.
Apple Arcade is now live on Apple TV for users running the iOS 13 beta.
Its arrival comes just under one week after the official launch of Apple Arcade on iOS. Subscribers get access to around 70 games (rising to 100 by the end of the year) for just $4.99 a month.
Oprah’s Book Club has landed in Apple Books, connecting readers worldwide to “stories that truly matter by today’s most thought-provoking authors.”
Its arrival comes weeks before Oprah’s new TV show kicks off on Apple TV+. A new episode will air every two months, and every title selected will be available from Apple Books.
The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates is Winfrey’s first selection, and you can preorder it now in ebook and audiobook formats ahead of its debut tomorrow, September 24.
Apple has its eye on dominating next year’s Emmy Awards with its original content. But Apple TV+ wasn’t exactly hiding in the shadows at this year’s event.
Apple bombarded people who tuned in to the Emmys with 15-second spots for its TV+ ads during commercial breaks. This included the first teases for its shows Servant and Truth Be Told. Check them out below.
Netflix CEO Reed Hastings almost sounds excited about the increased competition his company is about to face from the biggest tech companies in the world.
After basically creating the entire TV streaming market, Netflix is about to go up against new services from Apple and Disney. In an interview with Variety, Hastings admitted it’s going to be a whole new ball game in just a few months, but Netflix doesn’t plan to change much.
Maybe Apple should tweak the title of For All Mankind, its space race sci-fi show. A new teaser for the upcoming Apple TV+ series reveals that the drama will inject a strong shot of female empowerment into its alternate-history storyline about Russians beating the United States to the moon.
The 15-second clip, released Friday, shows actress Sarah Jones in the role of Tracy Stevens. “Look at you, Tracy Stevens,” says an off-screen male character. “You’re going to be an astronaut candidate.”
“No,” Stevens says. “One day I’m going to be an astronaut.” Cue a shot of an all-female astronaut ensemble.
Downton Abbey fans may have a great new costume drama to jump ship to thanks to Apple TV+. A new trailer for Apple’s upcoming TV show Dickinson gives us our best glimpse yet of the new series, which stars Haile Steinfeld as iconic poet Emily Dickinson.
The fight for women’s rights lands front and center in the lengthy new trailer. It shows just how “eccentric” Dickinson’s peers consider her ideas at the time.
Check it out:
Apple TV+ could do a lot more than just offering up some great entertainment — it could save lives.
That’s according to none other than the U.K.’s Prince Harry, aka the Duke of Sussex. In a conversation with The Daily Telegraph, he discussed what he hopes to achieve with his upcoming Apple TV+ series, which will focus on mental health.
We’ve got our first glimpse of what Apple TV+’s kid-friendly programming is going to look like, thanks to trailers for Ghostwriter and Helpsters.
Ghostwriter reboots a popular children’s mystery/fantasy series that originally ran from 1992 through 1994. It involved a group of diverse kids who solve crimes and mysteries with the help of a ghost, which can communicate only by rearranging letters and words to form sentences.
Helpsters, meanwhile, is a Sesame Street-style show all about learning to help. The question: Can these shows help Apple TV+ become a success?
NBCUniversal has given a somewhat questionable name to its upcoming streaming video service: Peacock.
It will face tough competition from Netflix, Hulu and Apple TV+, but will be able to offer classics like The Office and Parks and Recreation, as well as a second reboot of Battlestar Galactica.
Apple is adapting Paul Theroux’s popular 1981 novel The Mosquito Coast into a new Apple TV+ series.
The novel tells the story of an inventor who takes his American family to live in the Honduran jungle — with unexpected twists along the way. It was previously adapted into a Hollywood movie starring Harrison Ford. Apple’s new version will star Justin Theroux, nephew of the book’s author Paul Theroux.
Sons of Anarchy star Charlie Hunnam has landed the lead role in the highly-anticipated adaption of Shantaram heading to Apple TV+ next year. Shantaram is scheduled to start filming in October. It will be the first international project for Apple TV+ with locations set in Australia and India.
Apple’s Carpool Karaoke: The Series just won an Emmy for the second year running. The show won a Creative Arts Emmy award in the “Short form variety series” category in an award handed out over the weekend.
While plenty of people forget about Carpool Karaoke when talking about Apple’s original TV shows, that’s a good omen at a time it’s gearing up to launch its Apple TV+ streaming service.
Apple partnered with Goldman Sachs to launch Apple Card. But that doesn’t guarantee that the two entities will always see eye-to-eye.
Late last week, Goldman Sachs cut its price target on Apple shares to $165. That gives it the lowest expectations for Apple of all major Wall Street banks. Following the news, Apple hit back at its partner, arguing that its claims were ill-founded.
Apple’s original TV series Dickinson made its debut at the Tribeca TV Festival this weekend. The series is about the life of poet Emily Dickinson.
This is the first time the public has seen one of Apple’s new TV+ shows. The show will officially debut on November 1 when Apple TV+ launches.
The Apple board of directors just lost a powerful member: Disney CEO Bob Iger. His resignation, revealed by an Apple filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission, comes as Disney and Apple prepare to launch competing streaming services.
Meanwhile, the new Disney offering garnered a rave early review that called it “more addictive than heroin.”
Apple reportedly offered one of the world’s hottest directors half a billion dollars to produce shows exclusively for Apple TV+, but J.J. Abrams turned down the deal.
Instead, his Bad Robot production company signed with WarnerMedia for about half that amount.