Apple Inks Deal for Emily Dickinson Series Starring Hailee Steinfeld

Apple's latest original television series is a half-hour show about the life of poet Emily Dickinson, which is set to star Hailee Steinfeld, reports Variety.

Apple recently gave a straight-to-series order for the show, which is described as a "comedic look into Dickinson's world" that explores the "constraints of society, gender, and family from the perspective of a budding writer who doesn't fit into her own time."

haileesteinfeld

Image via Shutterstock

Emily Dickinson was a prolific American poet known for short lines, slant rhyme, and irregular use of punctuation. Much of her work focused on death and immortality, and she lived a reclusive life.

Hailee Steinfeld will take on the titular role of Emily Dickinson. Steinfeld, who is also a musician, is known for her roles in "True Grit," "Pitch Perfect 2," "Pitch Perfect 3," "Ender's Game," and most notably, 2016 coming of age film "Edge of Seventeen." The Emily Dickinson show will mark Steinfeld's first serious television role.

Alena Smith, who was previously a writer on "The Affair" and "The Newsroom," will serve as writer and executive producer on the series. David Gordon Green, known for "Stronger," Red Oaks," "Vice Principals," and "Pineapple Express" will direct.

Apple has more than a dozen original television shows in the works, which are outlined in our Apple TV roundup. It's not yet clear when we will see the first of the shows debut and on what platform, but rumors have suggested they could start launching in 2019. The first of Apple's shows was picked up in October of 2017, so a 2019 timeline makes some sense.

Related Roundup: Apple TV
Buyer's Guide: Apple TV (Don't Buy)

Popular Stories

iphone 17 models

No iPhone 18 Launch This Year, Reports Suggest

Thursday January 1, 2026 8:43 am PST by
Apple is not expected to release a standard iPhone 18 model this year, according to a growing number of reports that suggest the company is planning a significant change to its long-standing annual iPhone launch cycle. Despite the immense success of the iPhone 17 in 2025, the iPhone 18 is not expected to arrive until the spring of 2027, leaving the iPhone 17 in the lineup as the latest...
duolingo ad live activity

Duolingo Used iPhone's Dynamic Island to Display Ads, Violating Apple Design Guidelines

Friday January 2, 2026 1:36 pm PST by
Language learning app Duolingo has apparently been using the iPhone's Live Activity feature to display ads on the Lock Screen and the Dynamic Island, which violates Apple's design guidelines. According to multiple reports on Reddit, the Duolingo app has been displaying an ad for a "Super offer," which is Duolingo's paid subscription option. Apple's guidelines for Live Activity state that...
Clicks Communicator Feature

'Clicks Communicator' Unveiled — Will You Carry This With Your iPhone?

Friday January 2, 2026 6:35 am PST by
The company behind the BlackBerry-like Clicks Keyboard accessory for the iPhone today unveiled a new Android 16 smartphone called the Clicks Communicator. The purpose-built device is designed to be used as a second phone alongside your iPhone, with the intended focus being communication over content consumption. It runs a custom Android launcher that offers a curated selection of messaging...
Low Cost MacBook Feature A18 Pro

Low-Price 12.9-Inch MacBook With A18 Pro Chip Reportedly Launching Early This Year

Friday January 2, 2026 9:08 am PST by
Apple plans to introduce a 12.9-inch MacBook in spring 2026, according to TrendForce. In a press release this week, the Taiwanese research firm said this MacBook will be aimed at the entry-level to mid-range market, with "competitive pricing." TrendForce did not share any further details about this MacBook, but the information that it shared lines up with several rumors about a more...
Low Cost A18 Pro MacBook Feature Pink

Apple's 2026 Low-Cost A18 Pro MacBook: What We Know So Far

Friday January 2, 2026 4:33 pm PST by
Apple is planning to release a low-cost MacBook in 2026, which will apparently compete with more affordable Chromebooks and Windows PCs. Apple's most affordable Mac right now is the $999 MacBook Air, and the upcoming low-cost MacBook is expected to be cheaper. Here's what we know about the low-cost MacBook so far. Size Rumors suggest the low-cost MacBook will have a display that's around 13 ...
Apple Fitness Plus hero

Apple Announces New Fitness+ Workout Programs, Strava Challenge, and More

Friday January 2, 2026 6:43 am PST by
Apple today announced a number of updates to Apple Fitness+ and activity with the Apple Watch. The key announcements include: New Year limited-edition award: Users can win the award by closing all three Activity Rings for seven days in a row in January. "Quit Quitting" Strava challenge: Available in Strava throughout January, users who log 12 workouts anytime in the month will win an ...
govee floor lamp

CES 2026: Govee Announces New Matter-Connected Ceiling and Floor Lights

Sunday January 4, 2026 5:00 am PST by
Govee today introduced three new HomeKit-compatible lighting products, including the Govee Floor Lamp 3, the Govee Ceiling Light Ultra, and the Govee Sky Ceiling Light. The Govee Floor Lamp 3 is the successor to the Floor Lamp 2, and it offers Matter integration with the option to connect to HomeKit. The Floor Lamp 3 offers an upgraded LuminBlend+ lighting system that can reproduce 281...

Top Rated Comments

Mr. Dee Avatar
99 months ago
Apple is creating a lot of shows no one is gonna watch but the Apple executive team.
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Apple_Robert Avatar
99 months ago
Emily Dickinson and her life was anything but comedic. She suffered from depression and rarely left her home. She had a morose fascination with death. I guess slanting history so generation X, Y, or Z will tune in, is the goal with this series.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
GermanSuplex Avatar
99 months ago
Apple's original content is shaping up to be some sort of library for those too old for Disney but not old enough for Lifetime. Almost all of their music exclusives revolve around rap/hip-hop or pop and their original content looks similar. No diversity. I'm more of an R&B/Soul guy, new and old (not the rap they call R&B today).

Having these shows or those exclusives isn't the problem, but is there anything different for others? The closest they've came is the rumors of some sort of science show or reboot, don't even remember the show as I'm not into things like Star Trek/Star Wars/etc. But a lot are, so at least it was different from the other stuff that's been circulating.

As a streaming music service, its great, but I'd really like to see some stuff on there thats a departure from the high-school scene.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
CarpalMac Avatar
99 months ago
Thank goodness. Each day I have visited Macrumors on the hour, every hour, just in the hope that Apple would ink this deal. Good times.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Brandhouse Avatar
99 months ago
Apple is creating a lot of shows no one is gonna watch but the Apple executive team.
Leave this stuff to Netflix. I haven't seen one thing that Apple is proposing to bring to our screens that I'd consider watching.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
paulcons Avatar
99 months ago
One could say they are no longer REALLY creating a "great tech consumer experience." There's a load of issues that worked 100% even back in OS9 that simply no longer work. They sure ARE good at monetizing, big time. Expect these to be exclusive as itunez rentals for 5-8 bucks per show. Not in the least interested.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)