Mahershala Ali joins Apple TV movie

Mahershala Ali (True Detective, Green Book, Moonlight) will star in a new film for Apple TV, Swan Song.

Written and directed by Benjamin Cleary (Stutterer), the ‘mind-bending drama’ is in the near future, and explores how far someone will go, and how much they’ll sacrifice, to make a happier life for the people they love.

The film will be produced by Apple and Anonymous Content, and will go into production this autumn.

“Benjamin’s script for Swan Song immediately connected with us,” said Matt Dentler, Apple’s head of feature development and acquisitions. “We cannot wait to bring Benjamin’s vision together with Mahershala’s undeniable talent to deliver this powerfully layered story to audiences around the world.”

“Benjamin Cleary is a rare talent who deftly weaves human emotion into his filmmaking in a way that harkens to many of the great films that began at Anonymous Content such as Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Being John Malkovich,” said Anonymous Content’s Adam Shulman and Jacob Perlin. “We are tremendously grateful to be working with Mahershala Ali and Ben on this thought-provoking project, that we’re sure will be a conversation starter.”

“I’ve been developing Swan Song for a while and when I sat down with Apple it was immediately clear they completely understood my vision,” said Benjamin Cleary. “Once Mahershala agreed to join us I knew we had something really special. To be making this movie with Mahershala and Anonymous at Apple is an absolute dream.”