Apple is entering the film world with a splash. On the Rocks, the tech giant’s first original feature film, will reunite Oscar-winning director Sofia Coppola with her Lost in Translation star Bill Murray. Parks and Recreation‘s Rashida Jones will also star in the film.
On the Rocks, which Coppola also wrote, is about a young mother who tries to reconnect with her wealthy father, Variety reports. Production is scheduled to begin in February with filming taking place on location in New York City.
The upcoming film is the first project co-produced by Apple and A24, the studio behind Moonlight, Ex Machina, Room, Hereditary, and plenty of other award-friendly features. The two announced an ongoing partnership in 2018 that involves a “multiyear agreement” and multiple film projects. Currently, it’s not clear if On the Rocks will be released theatrically, or head straight to Apple’s upcoming streaming service, or some combination of the two.
On the Rocks will be the second time that Coppola, Murray, and Jones have worked together. The trio previously collaborated on A Very Murray Christmas, which hit Netflix in 2015. Coppola and Murray also worked together on 2003’s Lost in Translation, which nabbed Coppola three Academy Award nominations and a win for Best Original Screenplay, and scored Murray a Best Actor nod.
The feature marks another big push by Apple to break into the competitive entertainment industry. In 2018, Apple acquired the rights to a nature documentary and an animated feature, signed a wide-ranging production deal with Oprah Winfrey that includes both television and film projects, and commissioned a number of original TV series. Those include an adaptation of Isaac Asimov’s Foundation novels and a drama about a morning news show featuring Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon, Jones’ The Office co-star Steve Carell.
Apple isn’t A24’s only tech-friendly partner, either. The studio has deals with DirecTV and Amazon in addition to its non-exclusive Apple partnership. In 2013, A24 released Coppola’s celebrity crime-caper The Bling Ring.
Jones currently appears in TBS’ cop spoof Angie Tribeca and recently lent her vocal talents to the animated holiday hit The Grinch. Murray will next appear in Wes Anderson’s The French Dispatch and the upcoming Zombieland sequel — if he’s not too busy chucking fans’ smartphones off of rooftops, that is.
