According to Deadline, Apple Studios has finally revealed that the release date for Apple TV+’s upcoming drama Swan Song will be on December 17, including a limited theatrical debut. The futuristic pic stars Mahershala Ali as husband and father who discovers that he has a risky chance of surviving a terminal illness. Naomie Harris, Glenn Close, Awkwafina, and Adam Beach are included in the cast. The drama was written and directed by Benjamin Cleary, an Irish filmmaker who won an Oscar for his 2015 short film Stutterer. Swan Song is his first feature. 

Ali will also be making his producing debut with this film. Apple shared exclusive images with Deadline, which present a science fiction-esque world set in the future. Ali said the grounding of relationships within Swan Song was what pulled him toward the script, out of all he’s been offered. The incursion of the Covid pandemic, which delayed production for six months, also seemed to resonate. 

The two-time Oscar winner reveals that “The themes the film brings up that the character has to process, are things that so many of are having to process, either closely or by a degree or two of separation when people were passing away. It may have contributed to some of the feelings of isolation that we all experienced… This quality of isolation during the pandemic, the movie features a character who has to keep a big secret to himself and feels isolated, and doesn’t have a lot of outlets for processing his emotions with people. Covid, at least for me, brought parallels to the world and problems this character is trying to manage. And taking this intimate journey with Glenn and Naomie and Awkwafina was an education, a dream come true.”

Check out the images below:

Mahershala Ali in Swan Song, coming soon to Apple TV+. Courtesy of Apple

Glenn Close in Swan Song, coming soon to Apple TV+. Courtesy of Apple

Mahershala Ali and Awkwafina in Swan Song, coming soon to Apple TV+. Courtesy of Apple