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M Night Shyamalan lands Apple drama

Apple has ordered a straight-to-series drama from M Night Shyamalan, the director of hit movies including The Sixth Sense and Split.

M Night Shyamalan

The as-yet-untitled 10×30’ psychological thriller will be produced by Shyamalan’s Blinding Edge Pictures film prodco and written by UK scribe Tony Basgallop (24, Hotel Babylon).

Shyamalan will direct the first episode. Long-time collaborator Ashwin Rajan, who worked with Shyamalan on 2016’s Split and his first television project, Wayward Pines, will exec produce, as will Escape Artists Productions’ Jason Blumenthal, Todd Black and Steve Tisch. Taylor Latham will co-exec produce the series, whose plot details have yet to be revealed.

The announcement of the Apple project comes a day after the news that Fox had cancelled Wayward Pines after two seasons.

Shyamalan’s series is the latest in a number of high-profile original commissions from the tech giant, which is currently developing Swagger, a drama based on the early life and career of NBA basketball star Kevin Durant. An unnamed Jennifer Aniston- and Reese Witherspoon-starring drama, for which the company outbid other digital giants, is also in the works.

Other shows Apple is developing include Are You Sleeping, an original series based on a novel by Kathleen Barber, to be produced by Witherspoon’s prodco Hello Sunshine and Chernin Entertainment/Endeavor Content. It has also commissioned a straight-to-series drama from La La Land director Damien Chazelle and futuristic drama See from Peaky Blinders writer Steven Knight.

Apple’s drama moves follow an aggressive staffing up during 2017, with the firm adding some of the biggest names in the content business to its exec team.

Hires included former Sony duo Jamie Erlicht and Zack Van Amberg, Amazon’s Morgan Wandell as head of international creative development and former Channel 4 chief creative officer Jay Hunt to lead efforts in Europe. Apple announced a US$1bn budget to invest in new shows last summer.

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