Apple has its first series cancellation before its streaming service has even launched. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Apple has axed the Richard Gere vehicle Bastards after failing to come to a compromise over the tone of the series.
Bastards was set to be an adaptation of an Israeli show that followed two elderly war veterans. Brought together by a tragic car accident and disillusioned by the state of the world, they end up going on a shooting spree. According to THR, Apple wanted to tone down the dark aspects of the scripts turned in by showrunners Howard Gordon and Warren Leight to focus more on the friendship between the two leads. The production companies making the series for Apple, including Fox 21, backed Leight and Gordon's violent vision and the talks ended in a stalemate. Apple opted to let the program go and pay a penalty. The show reverted back to the production companies and, soon after that, Gordon left 20th Century Fox for Sony.
Bastards was left in limbo and with Apple already out, it looks like Gere's TV turn won't be happening any time soon.
Production stories coming out of Apple TV+ have drawn plenty of interest since the tech giant revealed a seemingly solid idea of what their service would be. As such, plenty of eyebrows were raised when word got around that their prestige behind-the-scenes morning talk show drama The Morning Showcosts more per episode than the effects-laden blockbuster Game of Thrones.
