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Apple adds ‘Are You Sleeping?’ drama based on novel to its upcoming TV lineup

Apple is continuing to green light more shows for production with its billion dollar TV budget for this year. Variety reports that Apple has picked up a new original series called “Are you Sleeping?” based on Kathleen Barber’s novel. The series will star actor Octavia Spencer known for her roles in Hidden Figures and The Help (who is also an alumni of Auburn University like Apple CEO Tim Cook).

Apple is developing a new original drama series entitled “Are You Sleeping,” starring Octavia Spencer.

Created and written by Nichelle Tramble Spellman, the series will be produced by Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine and Chernin Ent/Endeavor Content.

Witherspoon is also involved in the production and starring in another series coming to Apple’s TV lineup. It was reported late last year that both Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Anniston will star in a currently unnamed morning show drama that follows the lives of morning news personalities.

Apple has also picked up a reboot of Stephen Spielberg’s Amazing Stories series since hiring two Sony Television execs to build out Apple’s original content library.

While the latest series will likely include departures from the novel, here’s the synopsis from Amazon of the original story:

Serial meets Ruth Ware’s In A Dark, Dark Wood in this inventive and twisty psychological thriller about a mega-hit podcast that reopens a murder case—and threatens to unravel the carefully constructed life of the victim’s daughter. The only thing more dangerous than a lie…is the truth.

Josie Buhrman has spent the last ten years trying to escape her family’s reputation and with good reason. After her father’s murder thirteen years prior, her mother ran away to join a cult and her twin sister Lanie, once Josie’s closest friend and confidant, betrayed her in an unimaginable way. Now, Josie has finally put down roots in New York, settling into domestic life with her partner Caleb, and that’s where she intends to stay. The only problem is that she has lied to Caleb about every detail of her past—starting with her last name.

When investigative reporter Poppy Parnell sets off a media firestorm with a mega-hit podcast that reopens the long-closed case of Josie’s father’s murder, Josie’s world begins to unravel. Meanwhile, the unexpected death of Josie’s long-absent mother forces her to return to her Midwestern hometown where she must confront the demons from her past—and the lies on which she has staked her future.

Top image via AL.com


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Avatar for Zac Hall Zac Hall

Zac covers Apple news, hosts the 9to5Mac Happy Hour podcast, and created SpaceExplored.com.