As the “arms race” for original streaming content rolls on, so, too, does the war for lucrative IP. We saw it play it out in microcosm when Netflix paid $100 million to keep Friends on its platform for another year, and we’re seeing it unfold on the grand scale with Amazon’s acquisition of the Lord Of The Rings brand and Netflix’s recent announcements that it would develop expanded universes from both C.S. Lewis’ Narnia franchise and the work of children’s author Roald Dahl. Now, Apple has entered the fray by securing the rights to Charles M. Schulz’s Peanuts franchise.
This comes from The Hollywood Reporter, who says that the tech juggernaut has inked a deal with DHX Media, a Canadian content company with a sizable stake in Peanuts, “to create series, specials, and shorts featuring iconic Charles M. Schulz characters such as Charlie Brown, Snoopy and the entire Peanuts gang.” Does this mean Pig-Pen gets an origin story? ‘Cause we gotta know what that kid’s been up in.
There will also be an educational component to the endeavor. Per THR: “As part of the partnership, DHX Media is also going to produce original short-form STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) content that will be exclusive to Apple and feature astronaut Snoopy.” Neat!
Schulz’s characters made their big-screen comeback in 2015 with The Peanuts Movie, and specials like A Charlie Brown Christmas and the utterly gutting Snoopy, Come Home continue to pervade the airwaves. Apple’s Peanuts content will air alongside the original children’s programming it plans to develop with the Sesame Workshop.
Apple has a number of other high-profile, family-friendly series locked and loaded, including a Jennifer Aniston- and Reese Witherspoon-starring comedy, a revival of Steven Spielberg’s Amazing Stories, and an anthology series from Kumail Nanjiani and Emily V. Gordon.
9 Comments
Good grief.
And as soon as I sign up and commit to a year of service, you just know they’re going to pull Peanuts away from me and I’m going to fall flat on my back again.
Curse you, Red Baron!Obligatory reference out of the way, considering that there hasn’t been any must-have new Peanuts stories since Schultz retired, I’m fine that I have no way to access this.
this is legit such a smart move by Apple, love to see any and all Peanuts content out there
I wish I owned some moderately popular IP to cash in on the streaming wars.
Better get some soon. They aren’t making anymore new ones apparently…
Ugh
Acknowledging there’s no kiddie magic to how the IP sausage gets made, I applaud this development, particularly as it will delight my Peanuts-loving wife and daughter. As for a preferred creative direction, the 2015 movie, though not without its charms, was more or less the Peanuts equivalent of the JJ Abrams’ Star Trek. Happiness Is a Warm Blanket took a very retro, aesthetically appropriate Wes Anderson-esque approach, which is a lot more my speed.
And it’s only going to cost you 30% more than you’d pay for similar (if not outright better) content elsewhere.