Apple Inks Deal for 'Large Budget, Ambitious' Sci-Fi Series From Simon Kinberg, Known for 'X-Men' Movies

Thursday January 17, 2019 9:20 am PST by Juli Clover
Apple has inked a deal for a 10 episode season for an as-of-yet untitled science fiction series from Simon Kinberg and David Weil, reports Deadline.

Simon Kinberg is known primarily for his work on the "X-Men" series, as well as movies like "Mr. & Mrs. Smith," "Jumper," "Chappie," "The Fantastic Four," and "The Martian."

Image via Deadline
David Weil is known for "The Hunt," an upcoming TV show about a group of Nazi hunters in the 1970s.

Kinberg, Weil, and Genre Films President of TV Audrey Chon will serve as executive producers on the show, which is said to be a large budget, ambitious, character driven show.

No additional details are available about the series, with specific information being kept under wraps. The show is set to go into production this summer, and it will join more than a dozen other television shows that Apple has in the works.

Apple is developing several science fiction shows, including "Amazing Stories," from Steven Spielberg, an untitled space drama developed by Ronald D. Moore, "See," an futuristic world-building drama starring Jason Momoa, and a TV series adaptation of Isaac Asimov's "Foundation" novels.

Apple is expected to debut the first of its TV shows as part of an upcoming streaming series that is set to be announced in 2019.

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synergize
14 months ago
Apple should stick with the what made them famous, making computers, better than anyone else.
Rating: 19 Votes
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AZREOSpecialist
14 months ago
This is why Apple sucks. They are involved in too many things that have nothing to do with their core strengths. I don't need yet another subscription service for new content, I need a service that lets me easily view the content I already enjoy from the major networks. For that I have Playstation Vue. I already have Netflix and Hulu.

Apple, please get back to releasing revolutionary kick-ass computing products and knock it off with these services. You suck at services, isn't that plainly obvious? (Hint to Cook: fire Eddie Cue, he's a moron).
Rating: 19 Votes
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psylence2k
14 months ago

I always hear about how Apple has a new deal for so many shows over the last year, but besides MacRumours, I never hear about these shows again.

Where are the shows even shown?


They're all for Apple's TV streaming service which is coming in 2019.

You got to read the articles. They usually give you some info which says something along the lines of :

Apple is expected to debut the first of its TV shows as part of an upcoming streaming series that is set to be announced in 2019..

Rating: 17 Votes
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wbrat
14 months ago
Wow, they are investing a lot in this area. What worries me is the fact that I will probably have to put another point to the list of features that are not available in my country (for example subtitles), at least for the first 5-6 years or so:
- no siri in a local language (google recently added support for the Polish language for its google assistant),
- no other siri functions (sports, restaurants, movies, etc.),
- no predictive input in quicktype keyboard,
- no multilingual typing,
- no person to person payments,
- no transit info in maps,
- no nearby function in maps,
- no speed limits in maps,
- no flyover in maps,
- no indoor functions in maps,
- no ECG at Apple Watch,
- no cellular version of Apple Watch supported,
- no stainless steel versions of Apple Watch available,
- no HomePods,
- no apple tv app,
- no news app.

This is so irritating... and I'm quite sure that I forgot about some of them (it's quite difficult to remember them when they are not available). I really wish Apple focused on fixing those gaps first...
Rating: 14 Votes
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ImperfectLion
14 months ago
I always hear about how Apple has a new deal for so many shows over the last year, but besides MacRumours, I never hear about these shows again.

Where are the shows even shown?
Rating: 13 Votes
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Rogifan
14 months ago
Can someone explain what Apple’s role here is besides being a piggy bank? Besides they have a crap ton of money they need to find something to do with so decided to spend some of it on content? Is their anything we’re learning about this endeavor that indicates it will be differentiated from Amazon, Netflix, HBO etc.? Seems to me there’s a limit to the number of subscriptions people will chose and if they already have Netflix are they going to fork over another $15/mo for Apple’s service?

I’m a little surprised there hasn’t been more discussion around does it even make sense for Apple to become a media company (and no reselling content available elsewhere doesn’t make one a media company). It’s just assumed because Cook is pushing this “services” narrative that this makes sense but I’m not convinced.
Rating: 10 Votes
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wigby
14 months ago

Can someone explain what Apple’s role here is besides being a piggy bank? Besides they have a crap ton of money they need to find something to do with so decided to spend some of it on content? Is their anything we’re learning about this endeavor that indicates it will be differentiated from Amazon, Netflix, HBO etc.? Seems to me there’s a limit to the number of subscriptions people will chose and if they already have Netflix are they going to fork over another $15/mo for Apple’s service?

I’m a little surprised there hasn’t been more discussion around does it even make sense for Apple to become a media company (and no reselling content available elsewhere doesn’t make one a media company). It’s just assumed because Cook is pushing this “services” narrative that this makes sense but I’m not convinced.

That's strange. I'm so tired of people endlessly questioning Apple's intent to become a media company. Since Apple has so much money in the bank, this is a good way to shut up their investors who constantly complain that they aren't spending enough and not growing fast enough. Since Apple his very secretive about their hardware ambitions, and they know that Hollywood lives and dies based on rumors and announcements of new deals and content, they throw investors a bone with these steady stream of content announcements as they build hype towards their own new streaming service announcement.

In the broader sense, Apple knows that their hardware sales are flat so until they come out with the next big thing in hardware, they have to develop both hardware and content simultaneously for that hardware. That is the only way they will be able to demonstrate growth over the next 3-5 years.
Rating: 8 Votes
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needfx
14 months ago
I am pretty curious with how the apple logo production visual intro will be
Rating: 8 Votes
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keysofanxiety
14 months ago

Apple should stick with the what made them famous, making computers, better than anyone else.


You realise that same crap has been posted here since the first iPod. If Apple just listened to you guys, we’d be in 2019 with a 4-inch thick PowerBook running MacOS 9.93.

Then y’all would be posting that Apple missed the ball on music, smartphones, tablets, and smartwatches.
Rating: 7 Votes
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wigby
14 months ago

This isn't a smart move in any way. Content creation is a money sink. There's no way Apple breaks even on this with the limited amount of marketshare they have. They simply cannot charge enough. Lump it in with Apple Music? That service is hardly a profit center for Apple as it is. Now you've just added significant costs to it. Even a service like Netflix which has done nothing but concentrate on expanding the number of screens it can be viewed on keeps having to raise prices.

Will this media service help Apple sell hardware? That would be the million dollar question for me because it's not worthwhile on its own. Unfortunately, that's not something you could easily measure so I would've said no. I still look at Youtube tv as something Apple could've already done if there's a play at media at all that's worthwhile. And Apple could've done this much better combined with apple tv as good as youtube tv is already. The whole goal after all was to make Apple tv hdmi one. Funny enough it's google (and others) doing more to help make it that way than Apple who basically shot itself in the apple tv foot by making deals with tv makers. Same with Homepod and making a product crushing deal with amazon by allowing apple music on alexa.

I think the point is that Apple can no longer go all in on either hardware or services in this tech economy. They must address both simultaneously in order to grow.
Rating: 6 Votes

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