Apple revives Steven Spielberg's '80s sci-fi series in its first big original content push
Apple is tapping Steven Spielberg in its first big push into original television.
The acclaimed director is set to reprise his 1980s sci-fi anthology series Amazing Stories in a 10-episode deal between the tech giant and NBCUniversal.
The long-anticipated entrance comes as Silicon Valley titans like Facebook and Google-owned YouTube are attempting to break into a streaming war dominated by Netflix and Amazon.
Apple has had its eye on a big splash in the market for months now with a reported $1-billion war chest set aside for original programming.
The Wall Street Journal reports that each episode will have a budget of around $5 million--a typical number for a TV drama--and Spielberg will likely serve as executive producer. Hannibal's Bryan Fuller is being tapped as show-runner.
"We love being at the forefront of Apple's investment in scripted programming, and can't think of a better property than Spielberg's beloved 'Amazing Stories' franchise with the genius of Bryan Fuller at the helm and more exciting creative partnerships to come," NBC Entertainment president Jennifer Salke said in a statement.
The Emmy-award-winning Amazing Stories originally aired on NBC between 1987 and 1989 to mixed reviews and lackluster ratings, despite a stable a big-name directors like Robert Zemeckis, Martin Scorsese, and Spielberg himself.
But Apple seems to be betting that the show's Twilight Zone-esque mix of science fiction and horror might prove more potent at a time when Netflix's Black Mirror has helped spur a revival in the anthology format. Other streaming giants are also trying their hand at the sci-fi story-per-episode genre--Amazon with Phillip K. Dick's Electric Dreams and HBO with Room 104.
The news comes days after one of Apple's other big original programming projects--an Elvis Presley biopic series produced by Harvey Weinstein--was reportedly derailed amid bombshell reports pinning the Hollywood mogul with multiple alleged sexual assaults.
Topics Apple
Patrick Kulp is a Business Reporter at Mashable. Patrick covers digital advertising, online retail and the future of work. A graduate of UC Santa Barbara with a degree in political science and economics, he previously worked at the Pacific Coast Business Times.
