Apple has secured another major talent. Reese Witherspoon has a number of projects in development with the streamer, and now the company has snagged a deal with none other than her “Wrinkle in Time” co-star, Oprah Winfrey. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the deal is non-exclusive and the mogul will continue to serve as chairman and CEO of her cable network, OWN. The pact sees Winfrey creating original content for Apple, reportedly including film, TV, applications, and books.
Unsurprisingly, Winfrey is said to have been pursued by other “tech giants,” likely including Netflix and Amazon, but Apple ultimately landed the Oscar-nominated producer and actress with the goal of reaching a broad audience.
“Winfrey’s Harpo Films will own any and all content produced under the Apple partnership, in line with the mega-producer’s longtime business model. The deal marks a different type of pact than Netflix’s lucrative deals with Ryan Murphy and Shonda Rhimes, which were both completed in a bid for the streaming giant to own more of its original programming,” THR explains. “Winfrey’s OWN exclusivity remains as it has been since the formation of the cable network. She is exclusive to OWN for pay cable for on-camera work, and has the ability to render on-camera services on other platforms on a limited basis. That allows Winfrey an opportunity to have on-camera roles on potential Apple content.”
Among Winfrey’s exec producer credits are “Queen Sugar,” “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks,” and “Precious.” She’s also produced projects such as “Selma” and “Beloved.”
Winfrey was last seen on the big screen in “A Wrinkle in Time,” Ava DuVernay’s adaptation of Madeleine L’Engle’s beloved fantasy novel.
Just last week Nicole Kidman inked a first-look deal with Amazon Studios