During Apple‘s WWDC 2024 announcement event – where Apple gave us first looks at iOS 18 on iPhone, macOS 15 for Macs, and tvOS 18 for Apple TV – Apple gave us a glimpse at load of upcoming Apple TV Plus movies and shows, including the much-anticipated (but so far elusive) Severance season 2, as well as Silo season 2, and Slow Horses season 4.
That was on top of looks at Natalie Portman murder mystery Lady in the Lake, several clips of Matt Damon and Hong Chau in heist comedy The Instigators, a few seconds of Shrinking season 2 with Harrison Ford and Jason Segel bickering, plus Vince Vaughan (briefly) in comedy drama Bad Monkey from the creator of Ted Lasso.
There was also Dark Matter, Presumed Innocent, the new season of Pachinko, moon landing comedy Fly Me to the Moon, and George Clooney and Brad Pitt crime comedy Wolfs (which already has a full trailer, so is less exciting).
You can watch here, starting at six minutes in.
The Severance glimpse was truly that: a glimpse. We saw Adam Scott’s Mark returning to the office, welcomed by Milchik – “It’s been a minute” – before waking up on the interview/meeting room table in multiple outfits. Some of the close-ups also flicker between office Mark and another Mark with wires attached to his head – we’re definitely going to see further blurring of his mental state.
Silo‘s quick shots gave us Rebecca Ferguson looking pensive (shockingly), and Tim Robbins promising that people will safely leave the silo.
Slow Horses‘ few shots featured Kristin Scott Thomas, and Gary Oldman praising someone off-screen. We assume it’ll be a much more satisfying moment with some context…
The new HBO
Apple made a point of highlighting how high-quality the shows and movies are. The company showed stats (above) claiming that its shows are the highest-rated among the big streamers by viewers, and then highlighted the litany of awards and nominations it’s accrued, including the Best Picture Oscar win for CODA.
Apple’s far from being able to claim that Apple TV Plus is the most popular streaming service, despite offering more free trials and bundled subscriptions than any Apple fan knows what to do with – but it’s right that it’s successfully built up a reputation for quality. Much like HBO is known as a place to find carefully constructed and interesting shows for adults, Apple TV Plus is doing the same thing, and succeeding.
It’s had road bumps along the way, including claims that its corporate ownership interfered with Jon Steward’s reporting in his current affairs program – but there’s been less drama with its fiction. Apart from the dramas, obviously.
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