Anais Gutierrez
Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Aniston show will soon land on Apple. Reese confirmed the news on social media, the show will explore morning show drama.
The upcoming show marks Apple first original scripted show, along with a Steven Spielberg’s ‘Amazing Stories’ reboot. In an effort to deliver new original content in the streaming service battle.
Lading on Apple
Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon will reunite on the small screen in an upcoming Apple show. This time, the actresses will play journalists working together on a morning tv show.
Witherspoon took Instagram on Wednesday, to tease with the pals reunion and announcing they will soon land on Apple.
The Apple streaming service also confirmed the exciting news on Wednesday. Saying the actresses will star in a behind-the-scenes drama series about a TV morning show.
The series was described by Apple as “an inside look at the lives of the people who help America wake up in the morning, exploring the unique challenges faced by the women (and men) who carry out this daily televised ritual.”
The yet untitled show has already been confirmed for two 10 episode seasons. It’s being produced by Michael Ellenberg’s Media Res company.
The Hollywood A-listers actresses will also serve as executive producers through their companies, Aniston’s Echo Films, and Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine product.
The series is based on an idea from Ellenberg and is being written by ‘House of Cards’ Jay Carson, who will serve as showrunner.
The show will draw background material from CNN senior media correspondent Brian Stelter’s 2013 book ‘Top of the Morning.’
The book recounted the recent rivalry between NBC’s ‘Today’ and ABC’s ‘Good Morning America.’
Little details are known about the show that is in the early stages. Apple hasn’t announced the title, release date or whether the show will be distributed on iTunes or a different platform.
Excited pals hitting the screen together
First reports of Witherspoon and Aniston working together on an upcoming show started running in July. After a fierce bet, the show is landing on Apple.
Last September, Reese Witherspoon shared her excitement about working alongside friend and fellow Jennifer Aniston during an appearance on the Andy Cohen show.
“Jen and I are doing a show together based on morning talk show hosts,” Witherspoon told Cohen.
“It’s going to be great! I need some tips. Maybe I’ll have to follow you around.”
“[I am] so excited,” Witherspoon told reporters during the New York screening for her film ‘Home Again’ hosted by the Cinema Society.
“[We’re having] so much fun brainstorming and laughing and sending each other emails,” she added.
“We’re having a great time.”
Anniston returns to TV
The show marks Aniston’s first tv project since she wrapped ‘Friends’ in 2004. She came to fame as iconic Rachel on the hit NBC comedy that ran for 10 seasons, from 1994 to 2004.
The pair actually already worked together on the small screen on ‘Friends,’ where Witherspoon memorably guest-starred as Aniston’s Rachel little sis Jill.
Earlier this year, Witherspoon made her small screen debut on HBO’s hit drama ‘Big Little Lies,‘ for which she also executive produced.
The show was a major hit and fans were sent into a frenzy with the possibility of a second season, however, there’s no official word on it yet.
“Oh! I can’t really — I don’t have any really to say,” she said.
“We’re talking about it. We are only going to do it if we really feel it’s as good as the first season. Thinking about ideas.”
She elaborated on how the season one ended with all of the leading female characters overcoming their differences and banding together.
“A lot of the fun and the humor was that we weren’t all friends,” she said.
“So we’d have to figure that out.”
Effort to bring original content
Apple ordered its first two original scripted shows as part of its planned $1 billion streaming slate for 2018.
The moves mark the tech major’s first steps into the world of premium content production for streaming. Following the hiring earlier this year of Zack Van Amburg and Jamie Erlicht to oversee video content.
Along with the Witherspoon and Aniston upcoming series, Apple recently signed a content deal with Steven Spielberg to reboot 1980s anthology series ‘Amazing Stories’.
A series of the same name ran on NBC from 1985 to 1987 and nabbed 5 Emmy Awards at the time.
Apple will revive the show as a 10-part series in collaboration with legendary Spielberg and Bryan Fuller, creator of Amazon original ‘American Gods’.
The company will reportedly spend $5 million per episode on the show. It will feature a collection of horror, supernatural and magical stories.
Despite wading into a crowded sector, Apple may not be ready yet to spend what more established streaming services shell out for programming, such as Netflix that spends about $6 billion annually on content.
However, with more than $270 billion in cash on hand, insiders believe Apple could easily start with a $1 billion annual content budget.
Source: SkyNews
