Advertisement

Apple's first TV+ holiday special will star Will Ferrell and Ryan Reynolds

It's a musical take on 'A Christmas Carol.'

If Apple TV+ is going to take Netflix and streaming rivals head-on, it's going to need a key weapon in its arsenal: star-laden holiday specials. And sure enough, its first special appears to be on the way. Hollywood Reporter sources say Apple is finalizing a deal to acquire a musical reinterpretation of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol starring Will Ferrell and Ryan Reynolds. This might not be a cinematic masterpiece when it's directed by the team behind the Daddy's Home movies (also starring Will Ferrell). However, Apple was reportedly very interested -- tipsters said it "moved aggressively" on the production.

There's no mention of when it might appear, although it wouldn't arrive for holiday 2019 unless it's effectively complete.

Apple has been rapidly expanding the list of shows and movies on TV+, but there's still a lot of ground left to cover genre-wise beyond dramas and kids' programming. It needs additions like this to cater to a variety of viewers, even if it's just to give revelers something to watch after recovering from a holiday dinner.