Apple Original Films has landed “The Beanie Bubble,” a new film hailing from Imagine Entertainment that will be co-directed by Emmy Award nominee Kristin Gore (“Saturday Night Live,” “Futurama”) and Grammy Award winner Damian Kulash (OK Go), with Emmy Award winner Zach Galifianakis (“Between Two Ferns,” “Baskets”), Emmy Award nominee Elizabeth Banks (“The Hunger Games,” “Love and Mercy”), Emmy and Critics Choice Award nominee and Golden Globe winner Sarah Snook (“Succession," “Predestination”), and Geraldine Viswanathan (“Broken Hearts Gallery,” “Hala”) set to lead the star-studded cast.
“The Beanie Bubble” is inspired by the story behind one of the biggest speculative crazes that blazed through American culture in the ’90s. It pulls back the curtain on the absurdities and injustices of the American Dream — particularly the female relationship to it. It’s a celebration of the women who helped power Ty Warner’s success, whose strengths and good instincts shaped and amplified the phenomenon, but whose names are not on the Beanie Babies’ heart-shaped tags.
Produced by Imagine Entertainment’s Brian Grazer, Ron Howard and Karen Lunder, president of Imagine Features, “The Beanie Bubble” marks the first film order to hail from an exclusive first-look deal between Apple and Imagine Entertainment for scripted films. The film is written by Gore, who also co-directs alongside Kulash. The married directing duo developed the story together, and Gore wrote the screenplay, which is based on the book “The Great Beanie Baby Bubble: Mass Delusion and the Dark Side of Cute.” In addition to starring, Galifianakis serves as executive producer.
“The Beanie Bubble” joins an expanding lineup of Apple Original Films including the recently premiered “Swan Song,” starring and produced by Mahershala Ali; Joel Coen’s upcoming acclaimed film “The Tragedy of Macbeth,” starring Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand; as well as highly anticipated upcoming films “Emancipation,” a new film from director Antoine Fuqua, and starring and produced by Academy Award nominee Will Smith; “Killers of the Flower Moon,” directed by Martin Scorsese, and starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro; and “Spirited,” a musical rendition of Charles Dickens’ classic holiday story starring Will Ferrell, Ryan Reynolds and Octavia Spencer.
In addition to a first-look deal with Imagine Entertainment for feature films, Apple is also partnered with Imagine Documentaries on a first-look deal for unscripted projects, including the previously announced “Black & Blues: The Colorful Ballad of Louis Armstrong,” as well as upcoming docuseries “The Supermodels.” The projects will premiere alongside the critically acclaimed Apple/Imagine documentary “Dads,” from director Bryce Dallas Howard, as well as the Peanuts 70th anniversary documentary, "Who Are You Charlie Brown?,” from Imagine Documentaries and WildBrain.
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