Jennifer Aniston & Reese Witherspoon drama, Drake TV and movies on tap for Apple

AppleInsider

Apple's drive for unique video is heating up, with a new morning show-related drama starring Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon reportedly being green-lit, plus a "go-ahead" from Apple for Drake to produce whatever shows or movies the musician wants.

First spotted by The Hollywood Reporter on Wednesday, Apple has picked up an untitled drama based on Brian Stelter's novel "Top of the Morning: Inside the Cutthroat World of Morning TV." A two-season order has been placed, with 20 episodes expected to be filmed.

Aniston and Witherspoon will co-own, executive produce, and star in the show, which has been attached to Michael Ellenberg's Media Res development studio. The series will be written and executive produced by "House of Cards" supervising producer and political consultant Jay Carson.

It is not clear how much the show will cost Apple, as it was reportedly in a bidding war with other companies including Showtime. Also unclear is when and how it will debut.

Aniston and Witherspoon first worked together on "Friends."

Drake remains an Apple favorite

Also according to The Hollywood Reporter, Drake and creative partner Future are "deep in business" with Apple. Reportedly, Apple "will simply support" whatever the pair wants to do, with Drake and Future claiming that Apple has given them the go-ahead to produce whatever they want.

"If I had a company today, I would give it to Drake and Future to run in a minute," Apple's Jimmy Iovine said to The Hollywood Reporter. "They're incredibly talented guys. Very, very gifted."

Drake and Future haven't delved into specific plans, but a conversation with A24 production head Noah Sacco says that both television and movies appeal to the pair.

"When we spoke with them, they articulated their passion for shepherding new voices," said Sacco. "We look at what they've achieved in the music industry. And it made a lot of sense to us. We found that we saw eye to eye very quickly."

The pair are currently working with SpringHill Entertainment on a revivification of BBC crime series "Top Boy" for Netflix scheduled to debut in 2019.

Offerings from Drake have peppered Apple Music from the beginning. The artist's "More Life" garnered half of its worldwide downloads in the first week of availability from Apple Music in 2017, and "Views" hit one billion streams in 2016.

Drake was reportedly paid $19 million for a stint as a guest DJ for iTunes Radio in 2015.

massconn72

Who the hell cares about either one? I certainly don't, and I bet I'm not the only one.

mike wuerthele

massconn72 said:

Who the hell cares about either one? I certainly don't, and I bet I'm not the only one.

You probably aren't the only one -- but you're probably forgetting the rest of Apple's customer base that very likely has a significant number of people who do, given Drake's numbers on Apple Music.

edited November 2017

toysandme

Kinda odd to see Hollywood actresses without the name Wenstein in the story. 

christopher126

I find them both delightful ladies with excellent acting and comedic skills. Reese is coming off a very successful few years of producing and acting-smart lady and Jennifer is always charming.

foggyhill

These are very mainstream people, they hit most demos with this.

bdkennedy1002

Love both. Don’t care.

williamh

christopher126 said:

I find them both delightful ladies with excellent acting and comedic skills. Reese is coming off a very successful few years of producing and acting-smart lady and Jennifer is always charming.

I'll agree with you there for the most part.  I'm not sure they're excellent actors but at least competent.  However, I thought Apple was a little more progressive than this.  Shouldn't they try a little harder to put more diversity in the leading roles?

spamsandwich

williamh said:

christopher126 said:

I find them both delightful ladies with excellent acting and comedic skills. Reese is coming off a very successful few years of producing and acting-smart lady and Jennifer is always charming.

I'll agree with you there for the most part.  I'm not sure they're excellent actors but at least competent.  However, I thought Apple was a little more progressive than this.  Shouldn't they try a little harder to put more diversity in the leading roles?

🙄

leavingthebigg

williamh said:

christopher126 said:

I find them both delightful ladies with excellent acting and comedic skills. Reese is coming off a very successful few years of producing and acting-smart lady and Jennifer is always charming.

I'll agree with you there for the most part.  I'm not sure they're excellent actors but at least competent.  However, I thought Apple was a little more progressive than this.  Shouldn't they try a little harder to put more diversity in the leading roles?

No matter what would have been announced, people would say, I thought Apple was a little more progressive than this. Which means Apple will be criticized most of the time. 

cali

Drake was an actor first and whether you like it or not, he will bring the “swaggers” into the Apple eco system.... which is good for Apple and eventually good for us.

That last paragraph though.... WHY???
Apple you could have acquired a small company for that much.

edited November 2017

jony0

massconn72 said:

Who the hell cares about either one? I certainly don't, and I bet I'm not the only one.

Who the hell cares about either who you like or if you're not the only one or if Apple or anybody else should care ? I certainly don't, and I bet I'm not the only one. If you are in such dire need of self-expression and verbal diarrhea you might consider MacRumors or Facebook to find someone who might care.

Sorry guys I usually don't feed the trolls but I'm just so fed up with all these navel-gazing narcissists who think that Apple should just serve their specific taste and that nothing else matters. For full disclosure, although I find the ladies charming I'm not particular about either one but as a consumer I respect other people's choices and as an AAPL investor I'm glad Apple does too.

edited November 2017

mdriftmeyer

massconn72 said:

Who the hell cares about either one? I certainly don't, and I bet I'm not the only one.

Millions of fans care. You folks have a deluded view of what sells in this world.

bestkeptsecret

williamh said:

christopher126 said:

I find them both delightful ladies with excellent acting and comedic skills. Reese is coming off a very successful few years of producing and acting-smart lady and Jennifer is always charming.

I'll agree with you there for the most part.  I'm not sure they're excellent actors but at least competent.  However, I thought Apple was a little more progressive than this.  Shouldn't they try a little harder to put more diversity in the leading roles?

What the fuck are you talking about?

rayz2016

williamh said:

christopher126 said:

I find them both delightful ladies with excellent acting and comedic skills. Reese is coming off a very successful few years of producing and acting-smart lady and Jennifer is always charming.

I'll agree with you there for the most part.  I'm not sure they're excellent actors but at least competent.  However, I thought Apple was a little more progressive than this.  Shouldn't they try a little harder to put more diversity in the leading roles?

Why is it that people think diversity doesn’t include white people?

edited November 2017

williamh

Rayz2016 said:

williamh said:

christopher126 said:

I find them both delightful ladies with excellent acting and comedic skills. Reese is coming off a very successful few years of producing and acting-smart lady and Jennifer is always charming.

I'll agree with you there for the most part.  I'm not sure they're excellent actors but at least competent.  However, I thought Apple was a little more progressive than this.  Shouldn't they try a little harder to put more diversity in the leading roles?

Why is it that people think diversity doesn’t include white people?

I think you know.  It's because those people are either unthinking virtue signaling narcissists or they are racists.  Such people are the customers companies like Apple value most highly.  If you recall, Apple's diversity chief (whatever her title was) not long ago took a lot of heat for expressing that very idea that white people could be included in "diversity."  If Apple does a show and includes 2 (cis gender heterosexual) people of pallor in the leading roles, they get accolades.  If you do it, you're a homophobe racist.    No, I didn't include any sarcasm tag in my previous post.  I just expect Apple live up to to their own standard.

My own view is it's Apple's show and they can cast anyone they like.  Those two ladies are quite good looking and can get the job done. I don't watch much television and I'm not likely to watch the show no matter who is in it.  The only 2 shows I am interested in these days are Doc Martin (season 8 ends today) and The Grand Tour (season 2 starts in December).  I know - I'm dull)

edited November 2017

strangedays

bdkennedy1002 said:

Love both. Don’t care.

You cared enough to read the headline, click the link, read the story, and comment on the story. Looks like you cared more than you’ll willing to admit, brah. 

strangedays

williamh said:

christopher126 said:

I find them both delightful ladies with excellent acting and comedic skills. Reese is coming off a very successful few years of producing and acting-smart lady and Jennifer is always charming.

I'll agree with you there for the most part.  I'm not sure they're excellent actors but at least competent.  However, I thought Apple was a little more progressive than this.  Shouldn't they try a little harder to put more diversity in the leading roles?

Huh? So Apple can’t do a TV show this stars two white women? That’s absurd. Diversity of ethnic background needn’t be forced into every creative narrative. 

williamh

StrangeDays said:

williamh said:

christopher126 said:

I find them both delightful ladies with excellent acting and comedic skills. Reese is coming off a very successful few years of producing and acting-smart lady and Jennifer is always charming.

I'll agree with you there for the most part.  I'm not sure they're excellent actors but at least competent.  However, I thought Apple was a little more progressive than this.  Shouldn't they try a little harder to put more diversity in the leading roles?

Huh? So Apple can’t do a TV show this stars two white women? That’s absurd. Diversity of ethnic background needn’t be forced into every creative narrative. 

I agree.  It is absurd. Sorry, that's the world we're living in.  Less than a month ago, Apple's diversity officer apologized for suggesting a bunch of white people in a room could represent diversity.  In her apology, she said "Understanding that diversity includes women, people of color, LGBTQ people, and all underrepresented minorities is at the heart of our work to create an environment that is inclusive of everyone."  Without digging into it too deeply, I think she probably does have her head in the right place so I don't want it to appear I have a problem with her or what she does. It's just in our current culture, that's not considered good enough.  According to current dogma, you have to have the right mix of people.  If you don't, the cause is racism (and patriarchy, capitalism, etc.)

patchythepirate

williamh said:

Rayz2016 said:

williamh said:

christopher126 said:

I find them both delightful ladies with excellent acting and comedic skills. Reese is coming off a very successful few years of producing and acting-smart lady and Jennifer is always charming.

I'll agree with you there for the most part.  I'm not sure they're excellent actors but at least competent.  However, I thought Apple was a little more progressive than this.  Shouldn't they try a little harder to put more diversity in the leading roles?

Why is it that people think diversity doesn’t include white people?

I think you know.  It's because those people are either unthinking virtue signaling narcissists or they are racists.  Such people are the customers companies like Apple value most highly.  If you recall, Apple's diversity chief (whatever her title was) not long ago took a lot of heat for expressing that very idea that white people could be included in "diversity."  If Apple does a show and includes 2 (cis gender heterosexual) people of pallor in the leading roles, they get accolades.  If you do it, you're a homophobe racist.    No, I didn't include any sarcasm tag in my previous post.  I just expect Apple live up to to their own standard.

My own view is it's Apple's show and they can cast anyone they like.  Those two ladies are quite good looking and can get the job done. I don't watch much television and I'm not likely to watch the show no matter who is in it.  The only 2 shows I am interested in these days are Doc Martin (season 8 ends today) and The Grand Tour (season 2 starts in December).  I know - I'm dull)

"people of pallor"?? Haha. Never heard that before, hilarious. I'm definitely stealing it. In today's society, where racial hyper-sensitivity and hyper-focus is only making race relations worse, it's nice to have a laugh now and then. Btw, I hope you used that as a joke/facetiously, it sounds just as ridiculous as saying 'people of color.'

I was not excited about Apple having a 'diversity' executive, but pleasantly surprised when she made the comment about what diversity truly is. I was not surprised, sadly, at the backlash from the unhinged left.

I really appreciate that Apple's 'progressive' principals almost always seem to remain grounded in reality.* I also really appreciated Tim Cook's attempt to bring some sanity to the discussion of internet influences on society (i.e. using the russia bs to try to shine a light on our silo'd sources of biased information), a very brave thing to do, as it caused an immense amount of cognitive dissonance in those on the left (which I suspect, sadly, is why it got so little coverage).

*Well, except for the whole CO2 issue, but I don't feel like opening up that can of worms rn.