Photo of Billie Eilish courtesy of Icebox (CC by 3.0)
Apple TV+ is reportedly paying $25 million for a documentary about pop star Billie Eilish that will cover her meteoric rise to fame this year.
The film was directed by R.J. Cutler and was produced in part by Interscope Records, which is Eilish’s record label. It follows Eilish in the aftermath of this year’s release of When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?, which was her debut album, and it intends to provide an in-depth and personal look into the singer’s life.
No premiere date for the film has yet been announced. In fact, a spokesperson for Apple declined to make any comment at all about the project. But it is believed that the film will come out sometime next year.
This is not the first non-narrative film Apple has purchased. The company bought and is streaming The Elephant Queen, and they have also purchase a number of upcoming Oprah Winfrey projects as well as a film that will detail sexual misconduct throughout the music industry.
The news of the film’s purchase comes on the heels of Apple Music naming Eilish the Artist of the Year during its inaugural Apple Music Awards, which took place on December 4 at the Steve Jobs Theater in Cupertino.
Interestingly, the documentary will not be available through Apple Music but only through Apple TV+, which is the company’s new video streaming service.
Previously, Apple Music had released a number of music-themed documentaries. This includes The 1989 World Tour (Live), which was about Taylor Swift, and Songwriter, which was about Ed Sheeran.
When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?, which was written by Eilish’s brother Finneas, was the most popular album on both Spotify and Apple Music this year. In itself, it received a pair of Grammy Award nominations to go along with the four others she earned.
Spotify can only wish they had creative capabilities in their camp. Wait till Apple buys a label…maybe revive Apple Records to start and layer on after that__