Elvis Presley has left Apple's building.
The tech giant has scrapped plans for an 10-part Elvis biopic produced by The Weinstein Co. Sources tell The Hollywood Reporter that the mini was one of four projects that the tech giant had in the works via a larger deal with The Weinstein Co. that predated the arrivals of Zack Van Amburg and Jamie Erlicht to oversee Apple's entry into high-end scripted originals. The others were said to be eight- to 10-episode minis revolving around Michael Jackson, Prince and Frank Sinatra. The Elvis project was the only one of the four that was anywhere near close to going into production. A writer and star had not been attached.
The news comes a day after The Weinstein Co. co-founder Harvey Weinstein was fired from the company following allegations of decades-long sexual harassment.
Elvis, first announced in September 2016, was to be produced by TWC in partnership with the estate of the late rock 'n' roll icon. The estate allowed producers access to Presley's entire music catalog, access to film at his Graceland home as well as his cars and clothing. The drama was to be based on Dave Marsh's 1982 book Elvis. Presley's ex-wife, Priscilla Presley, was set to exec produce alongside Jerry Schilling, Harvey Weinstein, and David Glasser.
The Weinstein Co., which sources say will have a new name within 48 hours, has granted TV networks permission to remove Harvey Weinstein's name from show credits. That will begin Wednesday with Lifetime's Project Runway. Other shows that will remove his credit include History's Six, Paramount Network's Waco, Yellowstone and Rest in Power: The Trayvon Martin Story; Amazon's untitled David O. Russell drama and Matt Weiner's The Romanoffs; and MTV's Scream.
Apple has been making the rounds in Hollywood in the past few weeks, courting top programming from creators including Ryan Murphy and looking to sign prolific showrunners like Vince Gilligan to its roster. The tech giant has a $260 billion-plus cash stockpile.
This article was originally published by The Hollywood Reporter.
