Source: Sage Grazer; Jeff Lipsky
Apple TV+ is about to get a lot of Ron Howard-backed films on its streaming service.
According to a new report from Deadline, Apple Studios and Imagine Entertainment, founded by Howard and Brian Grazer, have signed a multi-year deal that will produce a number of scripted films exclusively for Apple Original Films.
Over the 36+ years since they formed Imagine, Grazer and Howard have found backing for their movies in a gamut of ways, from a long term Universal deal to the time they took the company public for a short while. The exclusive deal with the streamer Apple is a new wrinkle. Imagine’s TV deal is at CBS.
Imagine Entertainment is a powerhouse in the film industry. The company has received over three dozen Oscar nominations and its film lineup is historic with titles like A Beautiful Mind, The DaVinci Code, American Gangster, Apollo 13, 8 Mile, Inside Man, and Austin Powers.
On the feature side, Imagine is currently producing Lin Manuel Miranda’s tick, tick…BOOM!, starring Andrew Garfield, and has Lee Daniels directing a reinterpretation of Terms Of Endearment. Howard is coming off Hillbilly Elegy, made for Netflix. Imagine has accumulated 43 Oscar nominations and 198 Emmy noms over the years, and Grazer and Howard won Best Picture Oscars for A Beautiful Mind.
This isn’t Apple’s first partnership with Imagine, either. The two companies have already worked on Dads and Peanuts in Space: Secrets of Apollo 10 for Apple’s streaming service.
Apple and Imagine collaborations so far have included the Bryce Dallas Howard-directed docu Dads, and the Emmy winning Peanuts in Space: Secrets of Apollo 10 directed by Morgan Neville. Apple will soon premiere Imagine’s Peanuts 70th Anniversary documentary, as well as the upcoming Barbara Kopple docuseries The Supermodels.
It is unclear exactly what films will result from the deal or when they will premiere on Apple TV+. If you’d like to check out what’s streaming now on the platform, the Apple TV 4K is the best streaming device Apple has to offer.
