J.J. Abrams

Read Cult of Mac’s latest posts on J.J. Abrams:

Little Voice has a mechanical heart and an auto-tuned soul [Apple TV+ review]

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Sean Teale and Brittany O'Grady star in the contrived musical romance Little Voice.
Sean Teale and Brittany O'Grady star in musical romance Little Voice.
Photo: Apple TV+

The latest lightweight Apple TV+ crowdpleaser comes from producer J.J. Abrams, songwriter Sara Bareilles and writer Jessie Nelson. Little Voice, which debuts on Apple’s streaming service on July 10, hits every single beat you expect — and none you don’t.

There’s little chance you won’t experience precisely the emotional journey and reaction you’re anticipating just from looking at the show’s promotional materials.

If you wanna watch a scrappy, model-beautiful singer finally find her voice with help from a supportive and kooky family of zany outsiders, and then live her dream of being a star, then yeah, come on in.

Apple loses out on securing future J.J. Abrams projects

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Bad Robot
Sadly, Abrams won't play a major role in the immediate future of Apple TV+.
Photo: Joi/Wikimedia Commons

Apple may have a bigger cash pile than just about anyone, but it doesn’t always get what it wants.

According to a new report, Apple is among the companies that lost out to WarnerMedia in a bidding war to secure the future development slate of Bad Robot. This is the well-known production company run by J.J. Abrams and wife and co-CEO Katie McGrath.

Apple’s original TV shows will get a sneak preview at March 25 event

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apple tvPIC
Don't expect them to officially debut until later in 2019, however.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Apple’s March 25 media event will be dedicated to services — and that will include the first glimpses of video content from Apple’s original TV series.

While we’ll get a look at some video clips, however, customers shouldn’t expect the series to debut immediately after the event.

Hollywood stars tapped to attend Apple’s March event

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Reese Witherspoon
Reese Witherspoon is playing a huge role in Apple's original content creation.
Photo: HBO

Some of the biggest names in Hollywood are coming to Silicon Valley for Apple’s first big event of 2019.

Apple is rumored to be planning a late March keynote where a slew of new services will be unveiled. To help with its pitch to customers, Apple reportedly asked some of the stars from its original TV shows to join the festivities.

Jennifer Garner will star in new J.J. Abrams series for Apple

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jennifer garner
Jennifer Garner as Sydney Bristow in the show Alias
Photo: ABC

Jennifer Garner and J.J. Abrams are finally getting back together to create an all-new TV show.

The duo rose to stardom in the early 2000s with Abram’s TV show Alias that starred Garner as a double agent for the Central Intelligence Agency. Now they’re set to make a TV show for Apple, only it won’t be quite as action-packed as their last endeavor together.

J.J. Abrams and Sara Bareilles team up Apple musical dramedy

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JJ Abrams
Jony Ive's buddy J.J. Abrams is going to make a TV show for Apple.
Photo: Gage Skidmore/Wikipedia CC

Apple has tapped J.J. Abrams to executive produce its latest straight-to-series order for the half-hour dramedy show called Little Voices.

Abrams’ and Apple have reportedly discussed working together on a number of his projects in the past. This is the first Apple has been able to ink a deal with J.J., but considering his close ties to Jony Ive, we’re surprised it took this long.

Apple loses out to HBO on bid for J.J. Abrams’ new sci-fi series

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JJ Abrams
Abrams went with the established HBO over newcomer Apple.
Photo: Gage Skidmore/Wikipedia CC

Apple may have $268.9 billion in cash on hand, but it doesn’t get everything it wants. According to a new report, Apple lost out to HBO on acquiring a new original TV series written by J.J. Abrams, his first since 2008’s Fringe.

Called Demimonde the series is about a family whose mom winds up in a coma following a car crash, after which her daughter and husband are transported to another world to fight a monstrous, oppressive force. HBO is describing the series as, “an epic and intimate sci-fi fantasy drama.”

Apple battles HBO to acquire new J.J. Abrams sci-fi show

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JJ Abrams
J.J. Abrams' latest show would be a big coup for Apple.
Photo: Gage Skidmore/Wikipedia CC

Apple and HBO are vying for a new sci-fi drama series written by Star Wars: The Force Awakens director J.J. Abrams. The untitled show is the first bit of TV writing Abrams has done since working on Fringe a decade ago in 2008.

In addition to Fringe, Abrams co-created the popular TV show Lost, as well as creating both Felicity and Alias. He has also executive-produced multiple shows in the past few years, including HBO’s Westworld, Showtime’s Roadies and Hulu’s upcoming Castle Rock.

iOS 11 will bring new focus on original videos from Apple Music

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Carpool Karaoke
Enjoy Carpool Karaoke without an Apple Music subscription.
Photo: Apple

iOS 11 will deliver a new Music app with a focus on original videos, according to Jimmy Iovine. The Apple Music chief says the service could add many as 10 original video series by the end of this year, including Carpool Karaoke and will.i.am’s Planet of the Apps, while Apple is also in talks to secure content from J.J. Abrams and R. Kelly.

First Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer is here and it’s glorious

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A mysterious scene from the first trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Photo: Walt Disney Studios
A mysterious scene from the first trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Photo: Walt Disney Studios

Star Wars looks like it’s in good hands. The first teaser trailer for J.J. Abrams’ upcoming The Force Awakens has been released, and it’s sure to make your jaw drop.

What’s that random guy dressed as a stormtrooper doing in the desert? Who is that mysterious woman on the flying contraption? And WHAT IN THE WORLD IS THAT WEIRD RED LIGHTSABER OMG?!?

Everything’s better and faster. How could Apple be so boring?

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Tim Cook bores the world with even more amazing Apple products. Yawn. Photo: Apple
Tim Cook bores the world with even more amazing Apple products. Yawn. Photo: Apple

Was Apple’s livestreamed iPad event really such a big yawn? Search Twitter for “#AppleEvent yawn” or “Apple boring” and you’ll see tweet after tweet bemoaning the boring nature of Thursday’s press conference. It got so tedious for some, there were dozens of photos of napping dogs.

“Most boring Apple event ever,” tweeted one. “Bring back the Chinese translation.”

Maybe some of those folks are being facetious, but there’s a grain of truth in the tweets: Nothing about Thursday’s event, except for maybe Stephen Colbert’s crackup comedy bit with Craig Federighi, was super-compelling on the surface. Many of the specs had been leaked (some even by Apple itself), and the rumor mill proved pretty accurate in the run-up to the presentation.

Still, this was no Phantom Menace. I mean really, what were people expecting? Jetpacks, aliens and electric cars?

This is Apple’s big dilemma right now: How do you top yourself when you make the best products in the world?

7 reasons we can’t wait for Star Wars: Episode VII

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It feels weird to suggest that George Lucas, the guy to whom we should be eternally grateful for bringing us Star Wars in the first place, doesn’t

It feels weird to suggest that George Lucas, the guy to whom we should be eternally grateful for bringing us Star Wars in the first place, doesn’t "get" his creation. Looking at Star Wars Episodes I-III, however, it would be difficult to argue that he’s totally in sync with what people love about the original trilogy. With all its mentions of trade embargoes and tax deductibles, the pre-credits crawl for Episode I reads more like Lucas filing his 1040 form than the setup for an exciting movie. Things only got worse from there.

That’s not to suggest there weren’t Star Wars moments in the prequels, but they were few and far between. Episode VII director J.J. Abrams, on the other hand, was 11 when the first Star Wars came out: the perfect age to be well and truly hooked. That fanboyishness comes across in everything we’ve seen of the movie so far.

Picture: Geeknutz