Ridley Scott Directed A $50 Million Pilot For Apple TV Series ‘Sinking Spring’

A source working on Ridley Scott’s grandiose Apple TV series “Sinking Spring” tells me that the Scott-directed pilot has almost wrapped filming. More curiously, the pilot, or first episode, of this sprawling new series is said to have cost Apple nearly $50 million.

Scott’s pilot is said to be wrapping its 2-week shoot on Thursday. Why such a big budget for a single episode? Supposedly, Apple shut down and rented out an entire town, including police and fire force, and even blew up a house.

There are five on-set camera crews on this show, they’re flying through two dozen setups a day, a 280 person crew in total. It really sounds like one of the most ambitious streaming endeavours.

“Sinking Spring” is a crime drama series, that stars Oscar nominee Brian Tyree Henry and “Better Call Saul” star Michael Mando as long-time friends posing as DEA agents and robbing a seemingly normal country house in the small town of Sinking Spring, Pennsylvania. They unwittingly get caught up in a major crime operation.

Tyree Henry and Mando are inspired casting choices. I can see this duo working quite well for the show.

The limited series is based on Dennis Tafoya’s 2009 debut novel, Dope Thief. Fincher’s go-to DP Erik Messerschmidt (“Mank” “The Killer”) is lensing.

Meanwhile, Scott will probably go back to post-production work on his upcoming “Napoleon” before embarking on the “Gladiator” sequel in May.

85-year-old Scott is a workhorse. Anything he does should be paid attention to, after all, over the years, he’s gifted us with such memorable films as “Alien,” “Blade Runner,” “Thelma and Louise,” “Gladiator,” “Black Hawk Down” and “American Gangster.”