Apple TV Plus Showbiz and Celebrity Breaking News

While the drama behind the scenes regarding the budget of Martin Scorsese’s upcoming period crime thriller, “Killers of the Flower Moon,” is well-documented, there haven’t been many details about what caused the initial friction between Paramount and the filmmaker. Well, until now.

A little more than a month ago, it was reported that Martin Scorsese, once again, found himself with a budgetary problem. Coming off the very expensive film, “The Irishman,” the filmmaker is now preparing to begin production on his next period drama, “Killers of the Flower Moon,” and Scorsese is asking for a lot of money to make that film a reality.

As Netflix, Amazon, and other streaming services swoop in to rescue feature films that have lost their theatrical release slot due to COVID-19, Apple TV+ has remained fairly quiet. But with the most recent news surrounding Tom Hanks’ upcoming drama, “Greyhound,” it appears that the tech company is willing to pay a hefty sum to keep up with its streaming competition.

From creators Dara Resnik and Dana Fox, and directed in part by Jon M. Chu, Apple TV Plus’ earnest series further mythologizes the compelling true story of Hilde Lysiak, a young reporter who broke a local murder case when she was 9 years old.

In today’s TV news roundup, Apple TV Plus released the trailer for “Defending Jacob,” and Variety obtained an exclusive first look at the upcoming new season of “T.I. & Tiny: Friends & Family Hustle.”

As the coronavirus pandemic forces global audiences into their homes and film and television production grinds to a halt, unsold independent films have become attractive options for distributors seeking fast content, numerous industry insiders tell Variety.

Amazon and Apple are the latest companies to throttle back streaming-video bit rates in Europe, joining an effort to reduce congestion on the region’s internet networks that have become stressed during the coronavirus pandemic.

Keshet Productions has suspended filming in the U.K. on its Uma Thurman-starring “False Flag” adaptation for Apple TV Plus, “Suspicion,” Variety has confirmed.

Arturo Castro is set to star alongside Joseph Gordon-Levitt in the upcoming Apple comedy series “Mr. Corman,” Variety has learned exclusively.

Following the storm surrounding one pick for her book club on Apple TV Plus, Oprah has reined back on another.

Apple has renewed the drama series “Truth Be Told” for a second season.

Apple is no longer participating in the SXSW 2020 festival, as concerns heighten over the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19), Variety has confirmed.

Apple TV Plus may have only launched back in November, but it already has plenty of content to keep viewers entertained.

Apple is developing a limited series based on the story of WeWork, Variety has learned.

O’Shea Jackson is now set to star in the Apple drama series “Swagger,” Variety has learned exclusively.

In today’s TV news roundup, Apple TV Plus announces Jen Tullock and Zach Cherry have been cast in upcoming series “Severance” and HBO sets a premiere date for “My Brilliant Friend: The Story of a New Name.”

Apple is nearing a series order for a comedy starring “Saturday Night Live” cast member Cecily Strong.

Apple TV Plus is preparing to give a series order to a dramedy starring Rose Byrne, Variety has learned.

Apple reported record-setting sales of nearly $92 billion for the three months that ended 2019 — but Apple TV Plus, the flashy new subscription-video service it bowed last fall, wasn’t part of the tech giant’s growth story.

Is Apple TV Plus — the tech giant’s foray into the streaming wars — a roaring success?

Apple TV Plus is nearing a series order for “Extrapolations,” a new climate change anthology from Scott Z. Burns, the writer, director and producer known for “An Inconvenient Truth” and “The Report,” Variety has learned exclusively. The streaming platform is developing the anthology with an eye toward a series order, amid a competitive bidding situation.

Apple TV Plus is on the board. The new streaming service won its first major Hollywood honor on Sunday, as “The Morning Show” star Jennifer Aniston picked up a SAG Award for best female actor in a drama.

“Bob’s Burgers” creator Loren Bouchard addressed his decision, at the Television Critics Assn. winter press tour on Sunday, to cast men as female animated characters and Kristen Bell as a biracial lead in his new Apple TV Plus animated musical comedy, “Central Park,” calling the latter a “casting conundrum.”

Apple TV Plus announced the premiere dates for a number of upcoming series, including Steven Spielberg’s “Amazing Stories.”

“Home Before Dark,” Apple TV Plus’ mystery series inspired by the real-life reporting of 9-year-old investigative journalist Hilde Lysiak, has nabbed an early Season 2 renewal ahead of its series premiere on April 3.

Rob McElhenney, Charlie Day and Megan Ganz’s “Mythic Quest: Raven’s Banquet” has been renewed for a second season ahead of its series debut, Apple TV Plus announced Sunday.

Apple TV Plus and Emmy and Peabody Award-winner R.J. Cutler (“Untitled Billie Eilish Documentary”) have partnered on a docuseries entitled “Dear…”

Julia Louis-Dreyfus, of “Veep” and “Seinfeld” fame, has inked an overall deal with Apple TV Plus to develop new projects exclusively for the platform as executive producer and star.

Following an extensive review period, Apple will release one of its first-ever original films, “The Banker,” in theaters this March.

A female director filed a copyright infringement suit on Wednesday against M. Night Shyamalan and Apple, accusing them of bastardizing her 2013 film and re-envisioning it through a male gaze.

Lee Eisenberg has inked a mulit-year overall deal with Apple.

Disney Plus and Apple TV Plus launched within the same month in late 2019, but they’re getting very different receptions in the marketplace.

The arrival of a show like “Little America” is no accident. Each chapter of Apple TV Plus’ new anthology series centers on the journeys of immigrants and first-generation Americans who end up in the United States either by choice, necessity or some combination thereof.