Apple Orders Damien Chazelle Drama Straight to Series

TV News Damien Chazelle
Apple Orders Damien Chazelle Drama Straight to Series

Academy Award-winning director Damien Chazelle has landed a deal with Apple for his untitled and very secretive new drama series. The deal involves Chazelle writing, directing and executive producing the series. This will be Chazelle’s second foray into television, as he is also working on a Netflix series called The Eddy which you can read about here. Different from the Netflix deal, Chazelle is in charge of the Apple project, and will write and direct every episode.

Plot details are being kept very much under wraps and there’s no word yet on possible casting options, according to Variety. The series will also be executive produced by Chazelle’s La La Land partners Jordan Horowitz and Fred Berger. Chazelle is currently in production on Universal’s First Man about Neil Armstrong, for which he’s reteamed with Oscar nominee Ryan Gosling. The film also stars The Crown’s Claire Foy, Corey Stoll, Jason Clarke and Emmy winner Kyle Chandler. First Man will be released on Oct. 12.

Chazelle began to be taken seriously as a director when his 2014 film Whiplash premiered at Sundance. The film went on to receive five Oscar nominations, winning three total, including Best Supporting Actor for J.K. Simmons. Next, Chazelle made headlines with his Oscar-winning film La La Land, winning a total of six Oscars, including Best Actress for Emma Stone and a directing win for Chazelle.

This Chazelle project is not the first of Apple’s attempts to compete with Amazon, Netflix and other streaming services. The company has ordered a new comedy series starring Kristin Wiig and executive produced by Reese Witherspoon. Witherspoon will also star in and executive produce an untitled morning show drama alongside Jennifer Aniston, and executive produce the thriller series Are You Sleeping starring Octavia Spencer for the streamer. Apple is also getting ready for a reboot of Amazing Stories with Steven Spielberg executive producing, the new drama See about the space race from writer Steven Knight and Hunger Games: Catching Fire director Francis Lawrence, and the docuseries Home from Matt Tyrnauer and Matthew Weaver.

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