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Apple Nixes 'Bastards' TV Show Starring Richard Gere

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Apple is not moving forward with "Bastards," a show based on an Israeli mini-series that was set to star Richard Gere, reports Variety.

Apple acquired the rights to the series, described as a violent and mature drama, last year. Apple outbid Showtime, FX, and Amazon for the show, and gave it a straight to series order.

The Israeli version of the show (called "Nevelot," which is "Bastards" in Hebrew) focused on two military veterans who go on a killing spree targeting young people who "don't understand the sacrifices of their generation."

Richard Gere was going to star in the series and he had also signed on to executive produce. The plan was to reformat the show for an American audience, turning the two veterans into Vietnam vets among other changes, but the premise may have been too violent for Apple. It was set to feature two elderly Vietnam vets who find their lives upended when a woman they loved fifty years ago is killed by a car, leading them on a spree of violence.

According to Variety, development on the show was ended due to creative differences between Apple and the producers. Apple released the project and ended up paying a "large financial penalty." This is the second show Apple has shelved that we know of. Apple also halted development on "Vital Signs," a TV series based on the life of Dr. Dre, reportedly due to scenes of gun violence and drug use.

There have been mixed rumors suggesting Apple is avoiding content that is "edgy" and adult-oriented in nature for Apple TV+, but there are a wide variety of shows in the works, some of which do appear to have adult content. Apple iTunes chief Eddy Cue recently said that Apple execs are not involved in the development of Apple TV+ shows and do not have editorial input.

"I saw the comments that myself and Tim were writing notes on the scripts and whatever," said Cue. "There's never been one note passed from us on scripts, that I can assure you. We leave the folks [alone] who know they're doing."

Apple has dozens of TV shows and movies in development for Apple TV+, and the service is set to launch this fall. Initial offerings will include "For All Mankind," "Dickinson," and "The Morning Show."

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Article Link: Apple Nixes 'Bastards' TV Show Starring Richard Gere
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2019/09/03/apple-nixes-richard-gere-tv-show/
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macduke said:
In the current climate of shootings nearly every day, it's probably not best to make a TV series glorifying violence against people you don't agree with.
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Sorry, dude. I do not know about "Central US" but violence in film and books has been with us for a long, long time.

Only when military, repeating-discharge weapons with magazines in the 10's if not 100's became readily available, then we got the spree of murderous attacks on the population.

We stand as the single nation where the number of these weapons exceeds the population by a geometric factor.

Do not believe me? -- take a walk on the Google search engine. And educate yourself.
 
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macfan57 said:
If the content on Apple TV+ is going to be all PG-rated, family-friendly fare, I don't see myself signing up. I'm an adult and I'm interested in watching TV for adults. If I want Disney-like content, I can just sign up for Disney+.
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I have to agree here. I would gladly pay $6.99/month for Disney+ knowing the catalog of shows and movies it comes with. Apple TV+? No so much.

I'm curious if Showtime, Amazon or FX will attempt to pick this show back up.
 
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History says this thread is going to find itself beside an AirPod... laying on the dirty tracks of an NYC subway station, floating in {sniffs} floating in [retches] floating in (passes out)...

/gets hit by train.

This thread is going to be hit by a train.:D
 
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macduke said:
In the current climate of shootings nearly every day, it's probably not best to make a TV series glorifying violence against people you don't agree with.
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The use of firearms have appeared in TV shows and movies for a long time. You will also find violence in other movies that have not used firearms as well. Hollywood will continue to produce violent movies if they believe it will make money despite many in that industry claim they are against firearms.
 
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macduke said:
In the current climate of shootings nearly every day, it's probably not best to make a TV series glorifying violence against people you don't agree with.
Click to expand...

This is exactly what I was thinking. Commenters on here are missing the point decrying SJWs or whatever. Apple is not Netflix, Amazon, or Hulu, and Disney isn’t any of them either — their content will reflect on the company. That’s it. Apple — with their CEO at least somewhat visible in humanitarian efforts and certain events and incidents that happen in the US — most likely don’t want their company being in the business of glorifying a show with white men shooting millennials due to disagreements anymore because of current events in the US. That’s a business decision firstly, and then gets to morals and convictions and all that afterwards.
 
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“...development on the show was ended due to creative differences between Apple and the producers...”

“Apple iTunes chief Eddy Cue recently said that Apple execs are not involved in the development of Apple TV+ shows and do not have editorial input.

I saw the comments that myself and Tim were writing notes on the scripts and whatever," said Cue. "There's never been one note passed from us on scripts, that I can assure you. We leave the folks [alone] who know they're doing."

Right!
 
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Interesting that they canned the Dr. Dre show. I guess they don't want people to know about Dr. Dre's history of violence, given that Apple now owns the Beats brand.

Chocolatemilty said:
This is exactly what I was thinking. Commenters on here are missing the point decrying SJWs or whatever. Apple is not Netflix, Amazon, or Hulu, and Disney isn’t any of them either — their content will reflect on the company. That’s it. Apple — with their CEO at least somewhat visible in humanitarian efforts and certain events and incidents that happen in the US — most likely don’t want their company being in the business of glorifying a show with white men shooting millennials due to disagreements anymore because of current events in the US. That’s a business decision firstly, and then gets to morals and convictions and all that afterwards.
Click to expand...
See above.
 
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Chocolatemilty said:
This is exactly what I was thinking. Commenters on here are missing the point decrying SJWs or whatever. Apple is not Netflix, Amazon, or Hulu, and Disney isn’t any of them either — their content will reflect on the company. That’s it. Apple — with their CEO at least somewhat visible in humanitarian efforts and certain events and incidents that happen in the US — most likely don’t want their company being in the business of glorifying a show with white men shooting millennials due to disagreements anymore because of current events in the US. That’s a business decision firstly, and then gets to morals and convictions and all that afterwards.
Click to expand...

Is Apple going to pull violent content from the iTunes Store?
 
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