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Story #1: "Black Bird"

Apple today unveiled a first look and the premiere date for “Black Bird,” a gritty, suspenseful six-episode psychological thriller developed and executive produced by Dennis Lehane, that will premiere globally with the first two episodes on Friday, July 8, 2022 on Apple TV+, followed by one new episode weekly every Friday. The series is adapted from the true crime memoir “In with the Devil: A Fallen Hero, a Serial Killer, and a Dangerous Bargain for Redemption” by James Keene and Hillel Levin.

Inspired by actual events, when high school football hero, decorated policeman’s son and convicted drug dealer Jimmy Keene (Taron Egerton) is sentenced to 10 years in a minimum security prison, he is given the choice of a lifetime — enter a maximum-security prison for the criminally insane and befriend suspected serial killer Larry Hall (Paul Walter Hauser), or stay where he is and serve his full sentence with no possibility of parole. Keene quickly realizes his only way out is to elicit a confession and find out where the bodies of several young girls are buried before Hall’s appeal goes through. But is this suspected killer telling the truth? Or is it just another tale from a serial liar? This dramatic and captivating story subverts the crime genre by enlisting the help of the very people put behind bars to solve its mysteries.

In addition to Egerton and Hauser, “Black Bird” stars Sepideh Moafi, Greg Kinnear and Ray Liotta.

Story #2: Docuseries "The Long Game"

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Apple TV+ today announced that its new five-part documentary series “The Long Game: Bigger Than Basketball,” chronicling the inspiring, coming-of-age story of basketball phenom Makur Maker, will make its global debut on Friday, April 22 on Apple TV+.

Seth Gordon (“Undefeated,” "The King of Kong,” “For All Mankind") directs and executive produces “The Long Game: Bigger Than Basketball,” which follows Maker, the NBA hopeful who grabbed global headlines with his groundbreaking decision to forgo the NBA and play for Howard University, making him the highest-ranked high school player in the modern recruiting era to commit to a historically Black university (HBCU). The docuseries is an intimate look at Makur's life as a student-athlete with a dream of making it to the NBA, while unexpected physical challenges and a global pandemic threaten his college career. Off the courts, “The Long Game: Bigger Than Basketball” explores how his journey from fleeing war-torn South Sudan as a child and his tight-knit support system led him to go to an HBCU, and in turn, allowed him to make an impactful statement in the wake of America’s cultural response to the Black Lives Matter movement.

It's being reported today that Scarlett Johansson (Black Widow) and Chris Evans (Captain America) are set to star in buzzy new movie package Project Artemis, with Ozark star, director and exec-producer Jason Bateman aboard to direct. Plot details are being kept tightly under wraps at the moment but the rumor is that the project is set against the space race.

Fresh off its Best Picture Oscar win for Coda, Apple has swooped in on the in-demand package in a $100M+ deal. CAA cut the deal on behalf of the producers. This marks another massive purchase for the studio following a year that saw them pay more than $200M for both the Matthew Vaughn package Argyle and the untitled F1 racing pic starring Brad Pitt. For more, read the full Deadline report.

Story #3: Project Artemis

It's being reported today that Scarlett Johansson (Black Widow) and Chris Evans (Captain America) are set to star in buzzy new movie package Project Artemis, with Ozark star, director and exec-producer Jason Bateman aboard to direct. Plot details are being kept tightly under wraps at the moment but the rumor is that the project is set against the space race.

Fresh off its Best Picture Oscar win for Coda, Apple has swooped in on the in-demand package in a $100M+ deal. CAA cut the deal on behalf of the producers. This marks another massive purchase for the studio following a year that saw them pay more than $200M for both the Matthew Vaughn package Argyle and the untitled F1 racing pic starring Brad Pitt. For more, read the full Deadline report.

Story #4: Mick Jagger wrote the Apple TV+ Theme Song for "Slow Horses"

Tomorrow, the first season of the Apple TV+ Series "Slow Horses" debuts and the theme song was written by none other than king rocker Mick Jagger. Jagger told Variety that he was a fan of the book series by Mick Herron.

“It’s a quite popular series of books, so I knew what it was about,” the legendary Rolling Stones singer told Variety. “I knew the vibe really well, so as soon as [composer Daniel Pemberton] sent the track to me, I just dashed off a few pages of notes of what I thought it was about. It came very, very quickly, which is always a good sign.”

Adds Jagger: “I just recorded it on my iPhone and sent it to him, and he loved it. And then we had to do a bit of crafting, trying to get a chorus, calling it ‘Strange Game’ and trying to get the verses from the point of view of the main character,” referring to Jackson Lamb, played by Gary Oldman in the series.

“It’s quite irreverent, but the Gary Oldman character is irreverent,” Jagger explains. “It’s also slightly eerie, so it combines those two things. You don’t want to make it too serious.” He didn’t see any of the series until after he’d finished the song, which included a three-and-a-half minute version slated for release Friday via Polydor Records / Universal Music. For more, read the full report by Variety.

Archive: Apple TV News