USA Today - 21.10.2019

2D z MONDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2019 z USA TODAY LIFE

It’s almost time to take a bite out of Apple’s new
streaming service.
The company is launchingApple TV Plus on Nov. 1
with nine original programs for $4.99 a month. The
new programming includes dramas, comedies and
movies with big-name stars and producers such as
Oprah Winfrey, Steven Spielberg, Jennifer Aniston
and Jason Momoa. (Several of them attended a major
kickoff event in March to showcase the new service.)
But can Apple TV Plus replicate the success seen by
other services including Netflix, Amazon and Hulu?
Take a look at what will be offered to its streaming cus-
tomers on its first day and beyond.

‘The Morning Show’ (Nov. 1)

This isn’t a morning show: It’s “The Morning Show,”
a drama about a “Today”-like show. The series stars
Aniston as an over-the-hill news anchor, Reese With-
erspoon as an upstart and Steve Carell as a #MeToo’d
anchor (think Matt Lauer). Apple already has picked
up a second 10-episode season.

‘Oprah’s Book Club’ (Nov. 1)

Apple announced a multiyear partnership with the
talkshow legend and founder of the OWN cable net-
work. The deal includes the series “Oprah’s Book
Club,” a feature made popular on Winfrey’s talk show
after it first launched in 1996. For the first Apple TV
Plus episode, Winfrey interviews author Ta-Nehisi
Coates about his new book “The Water Dancer.”

‘See’ (Nov. 1)

Jason Momoa and Alfre Woodard (“Luke Cage”)
star in this dystopian drama set 600 years in the fu-
ture. The series follows the struggle and survival of the
human race after a virus kills a large number of hu-
mans and leaves the survivors blind.

‘Dickinson’ (Nov. 1)

Hailee Steinfeld (“Bumblebee”) plays “Dickinson”
in a comedy about the early life of poet Emily Dickin-
son, with Jane Krakowski (“30 Rock”) as her mother.

‘For All Mankind’ (Nov. 1)

The new space series explores how different our
world would be if the space race had never ended. The
show is being created by Ronald D. Moore (“Outland-
er,” ) and stars Joel Kinnaman (“The Killing”) and Sa-
rah Jones (”Alcatraz”).

‘Helpsters’ (Nov. 1)

The team behind “Sesame Street” takes on this se-
ries about lovable monsters who help solve problems.

‘Snoopy in Space’ (Nov. 1)

Get the gang together and bring the dog, too! The
beloved characters from “Peanuts,” created by Charles
M. Schulz, will make Apple their home for series, spe-
cials and shorts based on “Peanuts” characters. The
agreement includes STEM content in partnership with
NASA. First up: “Snoopy in Space,” about a dog who
wants to become an astronaut.

‘Ghostwriter’ (Nov. 1)

A mysterious ghost in a bookstore enlists the help of

four kids to release fictional characters from literature.

The show is a reboot of a 1990s PBS series.

‘The Elephant Queen’ (Nov. 1)

Apple TV+ also will take on nonfiction fare, includ-

ing this documentary that follows a mother elephant

and her herd.

‘Servant’ (Nov. 28)

A tragedy creates a rift in the marriage of a Philadel-

phia couple, which opens a portal for a mysterious

force in this series from thriller creator M. Night Shya-

malan.

‘Truth Be Told’ (Dec. 6)

Octavia Spencer (“Hidden Figures”) and Aaron Paul

(“Breaking Bad”) star in this series, which examines

truecrime podcasts and the consequences of Amer-

ica’s obsession with this new form of media.

‘The Banker’ (January)

Anthony Mackie and Samuel L. Jackson, who both

recently starred in “Avengers: Endgame,” play entre-

preneurs trying to provide housing loans to African

Americans in 1950s Texas. The project also stars Nia

Longand Nicholas Hoult. The movie will premiere in

theaters Dec. 6 before it appears on Apple TV Plus.

‘Little America’

This new anthology series captures the stories of

immigrants in the United States. Based on a collection

of stories in Epic Magazine, the show will be execu-

tive-produced by Kumail Nanjiani and Emily V. Gor-

don, the husband-and-wife team behind “The Big

Sick.”

‘Hala’

A high school senior struggles to balance her life as

a teenager with her traditional Muslim upbringing.

The movie was an official selection of the Sundance

Film Festival and Toronto International Film Festival.

The following Apple TV Plus projects are among

those expected to appear in 2020 and beyond.

Chris Evans project

Evans has been tapped to executive-produce and

star in “Defending Jacob,” a drama based on the book

by William Landay. Evans, best known as Captain

America in the Marvel movie franchise, plays a man

whose 14-year-old son is the prime suspect in a mur-

der.

Brie Larson series

Larson, who triumphed at the box office with “Cap-

tain Marvel,” will try her hand at producing and star-

ring in an Apple TV Plus series. The untitled project is

based on the book “Life Undercover: Coming of Age in

the CIA,” by former CIA undercover operative Amaryl-

lis Fox.

Bill Murray movie

Director Sofia Coppola is reuniting with her “Lost in

Translation” star Murray in “On the Rock,” a film about

a larger-than-life figure who reconnects with his

daughter during an adventure in New York City. Ra-

shida Jones also is set to star.

‘Time Bandits’

The new comedy series, about a young boy picked

up by a group of time travelers, is based on the 1981

movie from “Monty Python” alum Terry Gilliam. “Thor:

Ragnarok” director Taika Waititi has been added to the

project to direct and co-write the pilot.

‘My Glory Was I Had Such Friends’

Jennifer Garner and director J.J. Abrams(“Alias) are

reuniting for this limited drama series about a group of

women supporting a friend waiting for a heart trans-

plant. The show is based on the memoir by Amy Silver-

stein.

‘Mythic Quest’

Fans of “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” will be

happy to see Rob McElhenney and Charlie Day work-

ing on the new Apple TV Plus series “Mythic Quest” as

writers and producers. McElhenney also stars in the

workplace series about a video game studio alongside

F. Murray Abraham (“Amadeus”) and Danny Pudi

(“Community”).

Kevin Durant’s ‘Swagger’

The Golden State Warriors’ Kevin Durant’s life in

youth basketball is the basis for the drama “Swagger,”

which explores the lives of players, families and

coaches in an amateur basketball league. The NBA star

is an executive producer along with Brian Grazer (“Fri-

day Night Lights”).

Spielberg’s ‘Amazing Stories’ returns

Executive producer Steven Spielberg is rebooting

his NBC anthology series “Amazing Stories.”The 1985-

87 sci-fi/fantasy series’ cast includes Edward Burns

and Kerry Bishe (“Halt and Catch Fire”).

Animated ‘Park’

“Central Park,” about a family of caretakers in the

famed New York City park, includes the voice talents

of Josh Gad (”Frozen”), Kristen Bell, Leslie Odom Jr.

and Daveed Diggs (“Hamilton”) and Tituss Burgess

(“Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”).

STREAMING

Star power, variety at core of Apple TV Plus lineup

Jenny Cohen
USA TODAY

Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon star in the

new Apple TV Plus series “The Morning Show.”APPLE

LOS ANGELES – Disney’s “Maleficent: Mistress of
Evil”has knocked “Joker” out of the No. 1 spot at the
box office, but just barely.
Studios on Sunday estimate that the film starring
Angelina Jolie grossed $36 million in North America
and $117 million internationally in its first weekend in
theaters. The first film had a much stronger domestic
showing, opening to nearly $70 million in 2014.
“Joker” landed in second place i with $29.2 million
and has grossed more than $247 million domestically.
Third place went to another sequel, “Zombieland:
Double Tap,” with $26.7 million.
Rounding out the rest of the top five: “The Addams
Family,” starring the voices of Charlize Theron and
Oscar Isaac, finished fourth with $16.1 million, and
Will Smith’s “Gemini Man” was fifth with $8.5 million.
Final numbers are expected Monday.
Contributing: Kim Willis, USA TODAY

MOVIES

‘Maleficent 2’

knocks ‘Joker’

down a peg

Lindsey Bahr
The Associated Press

Angelina Jolie toes the line between hero and villain
again in “Maleficent: Mistress of Evil.”DISNEY

thing from scratch when they got there.”

Springsteen, who was living in Jersey Shore,soon

made his way out, too.

“The first time I visited them they were in a tiny

little apartment in San Mateo and I was 20 or 21,”

Springsteen says. “The idea that continues to hold

true for a large portion of the country when people

think of creating something new, or becoming some-

thing new – that lure of a place to restart your life, re-

trace your steps, erase your sins – continues to be

westward.”

California is the land of dreams and also broken

promises. So it is in “Western Stars,” where the album

vividly brims with scenic deserts, dusty highways

and the last chance stands of wayfarers, cowboys,

renegades and solitary figures on the fringes of show

business.

“Those were just characters I was interested in and

I felt I could write about them in a certain moment,”

Springsteen says. “I’ve been involved in writing these

Western stories for quite a while. If you go back to

‘Tom Joad’ (1995’s ‘The Ghost of Tom Joad’), you have

all the border songs that I wrote at the time. If you go

to ‘Devils and Dust,’ ‘Silver Palomino,’ ‘Black Cowboys’

and ‘Matamoros Banks,’ I’ve been writing in the geog-

raphy for quite a while and this particular record al-

lowed me to sort of draw on what are to me Western

musical influences along with Western stories. So I

said, ‘What’s the modern West?’ It’s Hollywood, it’s

Los Angeles.

“I went searching there for a few interesting char-

acters to write about.”

A closer look, however, reveals that the film is one

of Springsteen’s most personal works, revealing an

inner turmoil that has shadowed him throughout

adulthood.

“For a long time, if I loved you or if I felt a deep at-

tachment to you, I would hurt you if I could,” says

Springsteen in a vignette setting up “Tucson Train” in

“Western Stars.”

In the film, Springsteen thanks his wife, Patti Scial-

fa, and his loved ones and friends for pulling him

through the darkness. He’s had bouts of depression

and has been in therapy for more than 30 years.

His dad’s struggles with mental illness is depicted

in “Born to Run” and “Springsteen on Broadway.”

“Everybody has to find their own way, but if I had

grown up in a house, say, where (treatment) had been

part of our resources, it would have been a very differ-

ent life,” Springsteen says.

The film is, in part, a love letter to Scialfa.

The couple have three children: Evan, 28; Jessica,

27; and Sam, 25.

“Patti was an enormous, enormous part of bringing

all of that into my life, that I had resisted and failed to

be able to do earlier,” Springsteen says. “I got into a

place where I was, I kind of dug myself into a black

hole. It took quite a while to dig myself out of it and it

took a lot of help from a lot of different places. So I’m

very grateful for it and a part of what the film is is a

thank you to my lovely wife.”

The musical performances in “Western Stars” were

filmed over two days in May inside a barn on Spring-

steen’s property in Colts Neck, New Jersey.

Springsteen earned his co-director title, says

“Western Stars” co-director Thom Zimny.

“Bruce was there with me in the cutting room, he

was there discussing things on set with me. He was

bringing references. We collaborated together 100%

on this, and he was there when I was color correcting

and when I was mixing,” says Zimny,who recently

won an Emmy for his directing of the Netflix version of

“Springsteen on Broadway.”

The stories were in the songs of the album “West-

ern Stars,” mostly composed in 2012.

“It was all there waiting to come out. It was in the

record, it just hadn’t been verbalized,” Springsteen

says. “Then we started to use them as just voiceovers,

and then we needed images to accompany the voice-

overs. So Thom had some found images. ... Then we

went out and spent a couple of days shooting our own

footage and came back. Then... suddenly we had

something that turned into an actual movie, turned

into an actual film.” An actual film that Springsteen

considers one of his brightest stars. Western or not.

Springsteen

Continued from Page 1D