Michael Douglas to Star as Benjamin Franklin in Upcoming Apple TV+ Series

[MacRumors]

Apple today announced a new Benjamin Franklin show that is set to star award winning actor Michael Douglas as the titular character. The limited drama series is based on the book "A Great Improvisation: Franklin, France, and the Birth of America" by Stacy Schiff.

According to Apple's description of the as-of-yet untitled TV series, it will explore the "thrilling story of one of the greatest gambles of Benjamin Franklin's career."

The drama will explore the thrilling story of one of the greatest gambles of Benjamin Franklin's career. At age 70, without any diplomatic training, Franklin convinced France - an absolute monarchy - to underwrite America's experiment in democracy. By virtue of his fame, charisma and ingenuity, Franklin outmaneuvered British spies, French informers and hostile colleagues, all while engineering the Franco-American alliance of 1778 and the final peace treaty with England of l783. The eight-year French mission stands as Franklin's most vital service to his country, without which America would not have won the Revolution.

The show will be written and executive produced by Kirk Ellis, who has also worked on an Anne Frank TV mini series and a mini series about John Adams. It will be directed by Tim Van Patten, who has worked on "Game of Thrones," "The Sopranos," "The Wire," and "Black Mirror."

Apple TV+ is priced at $4.99 per month, but Apple provides three months of free access with the purchase of an Apple device (which is a one-time deal). The service has been available since November 2020, and Apple has now accumulated several hit TV shows and movies including "Ted Lasso," "CODA," "For All Mankind," and more.

Article Link: Michael Douglas to Star as Benjamin Franklin in Upcoming Apple TV+ Series

 

[mike2q]

Michael Douglas, Benjamin Franklin and Apple TV. That entire headline is stuffed full of yawn inducing boringness.

 

[DeepIn2U]

Michael Douglas, Benjamin Franklin and Apple TV. That entire headline is stuffed full of yawn inducing boringness.

I beg to differ Michael Douglas is quite an amazing actor it’s a possibility you might see something a little more familiar or maybe even completely new all depends upon the production screen right play as well as direction

 

[citysnaps]

Excellent! Looking forward to watching this series.

 

[Corsig]

I’d watch this

 

[flottenheimer]

Meanwhile, all other major streaming services are firing on all cylinders.

 

[anthogag]

Cool. Get the Game of Thrones guy to direct a movie about Benjamin Franklin. Put some dragons in the US Revolutionary War.

 

[lazyrighteye]

Michael Douglas, Benjamin Franklin and Apple TV. That entire headline is stuffed full of yawn inducing boringness.

While it's certainly no Fast & Furious 11: Look Whose Furiouser, Douglas can act and Franklin was a pretty interesting dude. Has potential. I'll check it out.

 

[CrapShack]

Since I'm obsessed with history, I've always wished we had the same interest in our history as the British do for theirs. Thanks to YouTube and other sites I've discovered fascinating series like "The Devil's Crown," "Shadow of the Tower," "The Six Wives of Henry VIII," "Elizabeth R," "Fall of Eagles," "Edward the Seventh" etc etc. HBO had a great show with "John Adams" a few years ago and I'm very much looking forward to this series about Benjamin Franklin... who certainly had enough of a "truth is stranger than fiction" kind of life to justify it.

 

[Sir_Macs_A_Lot]

I sense a new catchphrase is coming:
"Capitalism...is good." - Ben Franklin

 

[lysingur]

Michael Douglas is a great actor with memorable characters like Dan Gallagher, Gordon Gekko, and Nick Curran. Now he's old, he even starts to resemble Benjamin Franklin a little. I'll give this a watch.

 

[DeepIn2U]

Meanwhile, all other major streaming services are firing on all cylinders.

Cranking out #'s doesn't mean an equal or even decent RoI.

NetFlix has been cranking out a lot of movies recently, an example is Night Teeth a vampire movie which I personally liked yet in Toronto or Canada has never trended so not as popular.
Amazon has just a tiny few decent movies they've created but many are a miss. doesn't bode well bumping their subscription fee up when not a lot of decent movies are tracking in their list. I see THEM more in danger of dropping subscriber #s than AppleT+ does currently.

 

[Unity451]

They should've gone with Andy Daly instead. I'd watch that.

 

[macduke]

Apple TV is turning into a pretty decent value. Started watching Severance this weekend and it's kind of a trippy show that looks to be going in some interesting directions. Has good art direction too.

 

[mcfrazieriv]

I really dislike Foundation on AppleTV+. Something tells me this will be another adaptation loosely tied to the subject that I will also dislike.

 

[jjudson]

Michael Douglas as Ben Franklin?

I don’t see it…

…and probably won’t watch it.

 

[LonestarOne]

I really dislike Foundation on AppleTV+. Something tells me this will be another adaptation loosely tied to the subject that I will also dislike.

If it’s anything like Foundation, we’ll see a super-powered Ben Franklin fighting against the Spanish Armada.

 

[javanate]

I'd wager 90% of Americans have no idea the French were even involved in the Revolution, thank Zeus for anything that educates people even slightly.

 

[tedjennings]

I'm going to hold out until the musical with lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda is released.

 

[lazyrighteye]

Apple TV is turning into a pretty decent value. Started watching Severance this weekend and it's kind of a trippy show that looks to be going in some interesting directions. Has good art direction too.

Agree x 2.
1. AppleTV has made significant progress in a relatively short amount of time. Does it have the library of (say) a Netflix? Nope. To be fair, library size is overrated. I find Netflix's library ~90-95% unwatchable. Same with HBO Max, Disney+, etc. No one streamer is the end all, be all. AppleTV it part of a multi-pronged streaming arsenal and strategy that effectively scratches my streaming itch.
2. Severance is refreshingly interesting and very well done. Fantastic cinematography, writing, acting, directing.

 

[siddavis]

Since I'm obsessed with history, I've always wished we had the same interest in our history as the British do for theirs. Thanks to YouTube and other sites I've discovered fascinating series like "The Devil's Crown," "Shadow of the Tower," "The Six Wives of Henry VIII," "Elizabeth R," "Fall of Eagles," "Edward the Seventh" etc etc. HBO had a great show with "John Adams" a few years ago and I'm very much looking forward to this series about Benjamin Franklin... who certainly had enough of a "truth is stranger than fiction" kind of life to justify it.

Oh we have an interest. Unfortunately, it is in redefining it and tearing it to shreds.

 

[banfiz]

I am fed with the incorrect use of the word Titular. In what way does Benjamin Franklin hold a purely formal role without any real authority????????

 

[Thebrochure]

The "without which" was a bit much.

 

[ikramerica]

I grew up on Michael Douglas movies. But he has a way about him that doesn't strike me as Franklin. And since he doesn't act so much as play "Michael Douglas as Benjamin Franklin" I don't see him disappearing into the role.

Instead of Jefferson in Paris will we get Franklin in Cartagena?

 

[ikramerica]

Oh we have an interest. Unfortunately, it is in redefining it and tearing it to shreds.

There have already been some good mini-series about Franklin. We can watch those.