A bunch of well known names are attached to an intriguing sci-fi project in the works at Apple. Hot off the Hulu hit Palm Springs, Andy Samberg and the film’s writer (and fellow Andy) Andy Siara are teaming with producers Ben Stiller and Noah Hawley for a currently untitled sci-fi comedy drama.
And on top of those names, the film is being developed based on an idea by BoJack Horseman creator Raphael Bob-Waksberg. So essentially if you’ve consumed any sort of content on a streaming service over the past few years, there’s probably something here that’s piquing your interest.
Unfortunately, the plot of the film is being kept totally under wraps. So we can only speculate what it might be about. A concoction made up of BoJack Horseman‘s combo of meta humour and devastating existentialism with Palm Springs‘ likeable leads and Groundhog Day-esque time loop premise, plus additional sci-fi elements, sounds pretty terrific.
Obviously the film may not be exactly as described above, but if tonally it’s anything close to that sort of thing, Apple could have a much needed hit on their hands considering the popularity of the projects mentioned. Samberg will star in and produce the film. The search for a director is reportedly already underway.
Stiller recently signed on to direct corrupt cop movie The Seven Five, while Hawley was announced to be helming a new Alien TV series at FX.
It’s no surprise that Apple keeps going after big names for Apple TV+ projects, as their streaming service is the only one without an established, popular show to draw subscribers in. There’s a reason Peacock nabbed The Office and anchored their whole platform with it. So Apple is doing the next best thing by bringing in as many big names as possible.
In some ways, Apple TV+ is becoming a mini throwback to the days when movie stars were the major draw and consistently signing on to star in original projects. We’ll see whether this trend continues, and whether Apple TV+ can stay afloat in the streaming wars using these tactics.
#Peace.Love.PalmSprings
