Apple TV+ picks up 'Beastie Boys Story,' a documentary about the rap trio

Apple TV+ with Tim Cook
Apple TV+ with Tim Cook (Image credit: Apple)

What you need to know

  • Apple TV+ has a new documentary on its way.
  • "Beasty Boys Story" tells the story of the rap trio.
  • It lands on Apple TV+ on April 24.

Apple TV+ has picked up a new documentary based on the story of the infamous rap trio. It's produced by Spike Jonze and includes Beastie Boys Adam Horovitz and Mike Diamond discussing everything from way back in the 1980s.

The documentary will air on Apple TV+ on April 24 but it will already have debuted in Imax theaters on April 3. According to Variety the documentary is "live" and was shot at Brooklyn's Kings Theater. It's also a direct result of a book about the popular rap trio.

The film was a byproduct of Horvitz and Diamond's work on the retrospective "Beastie Boys Book," which was released by Random House in 2018. Jonze, known for such features as 2013's "Her" and 1999's "Being John Malkovich," has a long history with the group, having directed the music video for the Beasties' 1994 hit "Sabotage." The docu release also coincides with the 26th anniversary of the album "Ill Communication."

Apple TV+ went live on November 1 and while some shows have proven popular, it's the lack of content that has been the main issue for the service. New series and documentaries are being worked on, but we'll have to see whether they can all arrive soon enough to maintain the interest of early adopters. Many of which will be getting their first year of the service for free. Will there be enough to make them start paying next year? It'll start costing $4.99 per month when the free year is up.

Oliver Haslam
Contributor

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too.

Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.