Hollywood loves an origin story, but now that we’ve seen Peter Parker lose Uncle Ben and Batman brood over his dead parents over and over again, it’s time for a new hero to step up: capitalism. This has been the year of product origin story movies, from Air to Flamin’ Hot to BlackBerry.
Next up are Beanie Babies, the stuffed toy sensation of the 1990s — though as a totally unrecognizable Zach Galifianakis playing creator Ty Warner points out in the trailer, they’re actually understuffed so that they can be posed more optimally. The trailer has bombastic business pitches, salary discrepancy, affairs… but if there’s one thing lacking it’s the Beanie Babies themselves. Give me the beans!
The Beanie Bubble is co-directed by Futurama writer (and Al Gore’s daughter) Kristin Gore and her husband OK Go frontman Damian Kulash, with a screenplay from Gore. Sarah Snook (Succession) plays Ty’s wife, with Elizabeth Banks (The Hunger Games), Geraldine Viswanathan (Blockers), and Kurt Yaeger (Sons of Anarchy) rounding out the cast. The Beanie Bubble hits Apple TV Plus on July 28.