Latest news with #PaulWeitz
Yahoo
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘Murderbot' Renewed For Season 2 At Apple TV+ Ahead Of Season 1 Finale
Murderbot has willed its way to a Season 2 on Apple TV+. The renewal news on Thursday comes ahead of the conclusion of the first season, which debuts on Friday. More from Deadline 2025 TV Series Renewals: Photo Gallery 'Virgin River' Gets Early Season 8 Renewal, Becomes Netflix's Longest-Running Scripted Series 'Slow Horses' Renewed For Season 7 At Apple TV+ Based on the first novella in Martha Wells' book series, Murderbot is a sci-fi thriller/comedy about a self-hacking security construct who is horrified by human emotion yet drawn to its vulnerable clients, played by Alexander Skarsgård. In Season 1, Murderbot must hide its free will and complete a dangerous assignment when all it really wants is to be left alone to watch futuristic soap operas and figure out its place in the universe. In addition to starring in the series, Skarsgård also serves as an executive producer. Murderbot is created by Chris and Paul Weitz, who are also the showrunners. 'We're so grateful for the response that Murderbot has received, and delighted that we're getting to go back to Martha Wells' world to work with Alexander, Apple, CBS Studios and the rest of the team,' Chris and Paul Weitz, said in a statement Thursday. Added Matt Cherniss, head of programming, Apple TV+: 'Chris, Paul, Alexander and the entire Murderbot team have delivered a brilliantly original, addictive, witty and vibrant adaptation that has captured the imagination of audiences everywhere. We can't wait to unveil what's next for Murderbot and, of course, 'Sanctuary Moon' in season two.' In addition to Skarsgård, the Season 1 ensemble cast includes Noma Dumezweni, David Dastmalchian, Sabrina Wu, Akshay Khanna, Tattiawna Jones and Tamara Podemski. Murderbot hails from CBS Studios. The Weitz brothers write, direct and executive produce under their Depth of Field banner. Andrew Miano also executive produces for Depth of Field. David S. Goyer executive produces alongside Keith Levine for Phantom Four. Wells serves as consulting producer. Best of Deadline 'The Buccaneers' Season 2 Release Schedule: When Do New Episodes Come Out? 'The Buccaneers' Season 2 Soundtrack: From Griff To Sabrina Carpenter 2025 TV Series Renewals: Photo Gallery
USA Today
a day ago
- Entertainment
- USA Today
Murderbot is the latest in successes for Apple TV+
The brotherly writer/director/producer combination of Chris and Paul Weitz came into their most recent project, Apple TV+'s action comedy Murderbot, in the most straightforward way. "Paul just found it in the bookstore," Chris Weitz said in an interview with For The Win. "Yeah, I liked the cover of the book," Paul Weitz said with a laugh, referencing the The Murderbot Diaries series written by Martha Wells. "For me, if there are numerous books in a series, there's got to be something pretty great about at least the initial books. ... The character was so distinct and such a unique literary character with its kind of roots in other literary characters." From there, Paul sent it to Chris, and the About A Boy directors were off and running. The first season of Murderbot -- which stars Alexander Skarsgård in the titular role -- comes to a close on Friday, July 11, but the series has already been picked up for a second season. In the show, Murderbot (Skarsgård) is a security droid that is secretly able to hack his own system and gain a consciousness. Despite only wanting to watch his reality shows, Murderbot is forced to provide security for a group of scientists and attempt to hide his humanity to stay alive. Adapting the book into a 10-episode series was easier than expected for the Weitzes, thanks to the source material and the author. "We knew there was nothing that we wanted to change or take out of the books," Paul Weitz explained. "For a 10-episode series, we had to add some stuff. But luckily, we had access to Martha Wells, so we could bounce ideas off her, and occasionally she would give us ideas for stuff that wasn't in the books." Chris Weitz agreed, but knew there was pressure in taking on a project with source material: "There's a tremendous responsibility, both to the the author, whose whose world you are playing in, and to the fans who are deeply devoted to the books." The first season has a 96 percent rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, joining highly rated Apple TV+ programming like Slow Horses (98 percent), Black Bird (98 percent), Pachinko (97 percent), Severance (95 percent), The Studio (93 percent) and Ted Lasso (90 percent) with stellar reviews. In a day and age where artificial intelligence is becoming more and more common, Chris Weitz liked the approach and questions about morality that a show like Murderbot can bring to the forefront. "We're used to robots wanting to become more human and to experience human emotions," he said. "Murderbot has absolutely no interest in being human or in dealing with all of the mess of humankind. It takes an interesting angle on AI, which is that we don't necessarily need to see it in terms of whether it's angelic or demonic, but that it have its own sort of form of personality and personhood." All episodes of Murderbot are now streaming on Apple TV+.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Murderbot is the latest in successes for Apple TV+
The brotherly writer/director/producer combination of Chris and Paul Weitz came into their most recent project, Apple TV+'s action comedy Murderbot, in the most straightforward way. "Paul just found it in the bookstore," Chris Weitz said in an interview with For The Win. "Yeah, I liked the cover of the book," Paul Weitz said with a laugh, referencing the The Murderbot Diaries series written by Martha Wells. "For me, if there are numerous books in a series, there's got to be something pretty great about at least the initial books. ... The character was so distinct and such a unique literary character with its kind of roots in other literary characters." From there, Paul sent it to Chris, and the About A Boy directors were off and running. The first season of Murderbot -- which stars Alexander Skarsgård in the titular role -- comes to a close on Friday, July 11, but the series has already been picked up for a second season. In the show, Murderbot (Skarsgård) is a security droid that is secretly able to hack his own system and gain a consciousness. Despite only wanting to watch his reality shows, Murderbot is forced to provide security for a group of scientists and attempt to hide his humanity to stay alive. Adapting the book into a 10-episode series was easier than expected for the Weitzes, thanks to the source material and the author. "We knew there was nothing that we wanted to change or take out of the books," Paul Weitz explained. "For a 10-episode series, we had to add some stuff. But luckily, we had access to Martha Wells, so we could bounce ideas off her, and occasionally she would give us ideas for stuff that wasn't in the books." Chris Weitz agreed, but knew there was pressure in taking on a project with source material: "There's a tremendous responsibility, both to the the author, whose whose world you are playing in, and to the fans who are deeply devoted to the books." The first season has a 96 percent rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, joining highly rated Apple TV+ programming like Slow Horses (98 percent), Black Bird (98 percent), Pachinko (97 percent), Severance (95 percent), The Studio (93 percent) and Ted Lasso (90 percent) with stellar reviews. In a day and age where artificial intelligence is becoming more and more common, Chris Weitz liked the approach and questions about morality that a show like Murderbot can bring to the forefront. "We're used to robots wanting to become more human and to experience human emotions," he said. "Murderbot has absolutely no interest in being human or in dealing with all of the mess of humankind. It takes an interesting angle on AI, which is that we don't necessarily need to see it in terms of whether it's angelic or demonic, but that it have its own sort of form of personality and personhood." All episodes of Murderbot are now streaming on Apple TV+. This article originally appeared on For The Win: Murderbot is the latest in successes for Apple TV+
New York Times
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Was Murderbot Smiling in the Finale? Only the Creators Know for Sure.
This interview includes spoilers for the Season 1 finale of 'Murderbot.' On the surface, Chris and Paul Weitz were in unfamiliar territory when they set about creating 'Murderbot,' the darkly comic Apple TV+ series, which just wrapped its first season on Friday. After all, they hadn't adapted a science-fiction story together before. But as the Weitz brothers noted in a joint video call last month, the cynical, soap-opera-obsessed cyborg at that show's center (Alexander Skarsgard) isn't entirely dissimilar from the carefree, selfish cad played by Hugh Grant in their 2002 film 'About a Boy,' which they directed and co-wrote (with Peter Hedges). Like that man, the cyborg of 'Murderbot' is inconvenienced by some of the messier aspects of human existence — particularly emotions. And like him, it must learn to resemble a responsible, loving human being. 'Hugh Grant's character was essentially self-medicating with television and didn't really want to deal with people, and was kind of forced to by a hippie mom and her son,' Chris said. The title character — Murderbot is a name the cyborg privately gives itself — finds itself in a similar dynamic after it is hired to protect a motley group of scientists on an expedition to survey a distant planet. 'I think there's a theme in both our work of people who aren't actually equipped to provide emotional support for other people but who nonetheless figure out a way to do so,' Paul said — even if, strictly speaking, the cyborg's pronouns are it/its. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
The Verge
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Verge
Murderbot is getting a season 2 on Apple TV Plus
Apple TV Plus' adaptation of Martha Wells' Murderbot Diaries has been one of this year's surprisingly great sci-fi series, and the streamer has plans to keep the story going with a new batch of episodes. Ahead of Murderbot's season 1 finale out July 11th, Apple TV Plus announced today that the show has been renewed for a season 2. In a statement about the renewal, Murderbot co-creators / executive producers Chris and Paul Weitz said they were 'so grateful' for how well the series has been received by fans. No concrete details about the new season have been revealed just yet, but Apple TV Plus' head of programming Matt Cherniss teased that, in addition to following Murderbot (Alexander Skarsgård) on his next adventure, we can expect to see even more of The Rise and Fall of Sanctuary Moon. Murderbot's renewal is yet another sign of Apple TV Plus' commitment to becoming a home for solid sci-fi. The streamer just teased the season 3 returns of its Invasion and Foundation series. And after a bit of radio silence, we just got our first (tiny) look at Apple's take on William Gibson's Neuromancer. It's not yet clear when Murderbot will be back with new episodes. But for folks looking to dig even deeper into the world of Wells' books, a new novelette titled 'Rapport: Friendship, Solidarity, Communion, Empathy' is slated to go live on Reactor after Murderbot's season 1 finale starts streaming.
