I've said it before and I'll say it again – there's no better way for a streaming service to demonstrate its pulling power than by signing up Oscar-winners. If you can slap that label on one of your new projects, it's almost automatically something to pay attention to.
Apple has managed that with aplomb for The Lost Bus, which stars Academy Award-winner Matthew McConaughey as a bus driver navigating his way through some of the deadliest wildfires in American history. He'll be trying desperately to save a classroom full of primary school kids, led by their teacher, played by America Ferrera.
That's a great central pairing of actors, but it's levelled up even further by the direction of Paul Greengrass, who has himself been Oscar-nominated before. He's really well-known for how he's helmed frenetic thrillers of yore, like Captain Phillips and a handful of great films from the Bourne franchise.
Expect shakycam work of the very highest calibre, in short, and a pace that probably won't let up on you throughout the movie's runtime. It's coming to Apple TV+ on 3 October, but before that, it'll be in movie theatres from 19 September, suggesting that Apple sees this as a big tentpole release, a little like this summer's F1, which did really well at the box office.
The movie is clearly going to be an extraordinarily tense one – McConaughey's character is visibly conflicted about whether to take on the job of getting the kids out of dodge, and seems to have his own son to worry about in the background. Whether everyone will make it through is a somewhat touch-and-go question, with fire swirling and winds making things worse.
It's pretty clear that we can expect one heck of a final act, too. From this trailer, and the previous (much shorter) teaser, it's obvious that the fire will go from a nearby threat to one that's enveloping the bus and its inhabitants by the end, with at least one perilous drive through its heat to be endured. It'll be fascinating to see how Greengrass pulls it all together, and I'll certainly be watching when it hits Apple TV+ (my pick as the best streaming service going).
