Apple TV+ has ordered its first original Russian-language production, a thriller series titled “Container,” with the subscription-based video streaming service START.
HIGHLIGHTS
- “Container” is the first Russian-language show for Apple TV+
- It’s a co-production deal with subscription streaming service START
- It’s scheduled to start streaming via Apple TV+ in spring 2022.
“Container” is the first Apple TV+ Russian-language show
As noted by Variety, the series stars Oksana Akinshina (“The Bourne Supremacy”) alongside Russian stars Filipp Yankovskiy (“The Three Musketeers”), Marusya Fomina (“Gold Diggers”) and Artem Bystrov (“Earthquake”). The thriller series premiered in Russia and CIS on START in September 2021. It’s scheduled to land on Apple TV+ in spring 2022.
Described as “bold” and “unflinching,” the series sees Akinshina play Sasha, a surrogate mother hiding a dangerous secret who reluctantly finds herself ensconced in the luxurious home of the rich family whose baby she is gestating. As Sasha navigates the privilege and politics of the super-rich, both her secrets and theirs threaten to collide.
“Container” was born out of the first foreign-language production deal that Apple recently signed with the LA-based production firm AR Content. Under the agreement, Apple TV+ will add several Russian-language and multilingual shows
Recently, Apple TV+ premiered the Israeli series “Tehran” and Korean-language show “Dr. Brain.” In the future, the service will add UK-based “Masters of the Air” executive produced by Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Television, “Slow Horses” starring Gary Oldman, as well as the bilingual thriller “Now and Then.”
Apple is investing in these shows to comply with Russia’s law mandating that any foreign video service shouldn’t pass 20% of the market share for local video-streaming services. Apple TV+ currently lacks content dubbed into Russian (Russian viewers are not used to subtitling).