WeCrashed - What We Know So Far
When Apple TV+ announced "WeCrashed" late last year (via Deadline), a limited series chronicling the real-life rise and fall of coworking space startup WeWork, it was unclear what form the show would take or who would be joining the cast. However, as the show continues through preproduction, we've heard more buzz about cast, release date, and potential plot of the show.
WeCrashed will focus on WeWork CEO and founder Adam Neumann as well as his wife, Rebekah Neumann, as their lavish lifestyle comes crashing down around them when WeWork goes from startup unicorn to Silicon Valley pariah. While the show is still in early phases of production, we've been receiving juicy details here and there about the goings on behind the scenes of this hotly anticipated show, including a recent casting addition. Without further ado, here's everything we know about what you should expect in terms of a release window, casting details, and plot.
What's the release date for WeCrashed?
While "WeCrashed" is still in the early stages of preproduction, with very few details set in stone, we do have one hint to use in estimating a release date for the Apple TV+ show: its IMDB page, which indicates a 2022 release for the first episode. While we cannot find any confirmation of this elsewhere, given that Apple plans on shooting the show later this year, a release date sometime next year would line up with the standard production window for a limited series such as this.
"WeCrashed" joins a growing slate of AppleTV+ releases, including hits such as "Mythic Quest" starring Rob McElhenney of "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" fame and the Keegan Michael Key and Cecily Strong-led "Schmigadoon!" as the tech giant looks to carve out a section of the streaming market for itself in a marketplace already saturated by the likes of fellow FANG company Netflix and newcomers such as HBO Max.
Who's in the cast of WeCrashed?
The cast of "WeCrashed" was joined today by America Ferrena, TVLine reports. Ferrena's previous roles include the NBC sitcom "Superstore." She is perhaps most widely recognized for her work as the titular Betty on ABC's "Ugly Betty." Her role in "WeCrashed" is that of a WeWork employee whose life is dramatically affected by her proximity to the Neumann couple.
Other known cast members include Jared Leto and Anne Hathaway, who will play WeWork founder Adam Neumann and his wife, Rebekah Neumann, respectively. Leto and Hathaway signed onto the project earlier this year and are also executive producers.
The showrunners will be Lee Eisenberg and Drew Crevello, and they've already pulled Glenn Ficarra and John Requa onboard as directors. Eisenberg is best known for his work on comedy films like 2019's "Good Boys" and 2011's "Bad Teacher," while Crevello, an executive at Warner Bros, most recently worked on the 2018 adaption of "Tomb Raider." Ficarra is a veteran of the industry, with credits including 2011's "Crazy Stupid Love," and has worked with Requa on that film and several others, including the 2016 Tina Fey vehicle "Whiskey Tango Foxtrot."
What is the plot of WeCrashed?
"WeCrashed," based on a podcast by the same name, intends to chronicle the astronomic rise and subsequent explosive bust of WeWork the coworking space company many had compared to both Uber and AirBnb. Their business model was simple: purchase long-term leases on commercial office space, then dole out short term rentals of that space for the short-term needs of freelance workers, small businesses, and so forth. The company was valued at over $47 billion dollars before details leaked to the press alleging gross mismanagement, executive conflicts of interest, and quarterly losses investors found impossible to swallow.
CEO Adam Neumann was accused of obfuscating these red flags, while himself taking personal loans from his company to fund his own personal ventures, spending lavishly on the company account, and even owning interest in four buildings leased by WeWork. Businessweek, reporting on the story, called the scandal "a humiliating comedown" and documented the many critiques of the company from those in the business world and even from experts at Columbia University.
While much of that may sound boring, the "WeCrashed" showrunners should have no trouble bringing a good deal of drama to their TV adaptation. Multiple outlets, including Vanity Fair, reported on the Neumann's volatile lifestyle, including Adam's struggles with alcoholism and drug use, his self-stylings as a Kabbalistic mystic who saw the company as a "capitalist kibbutz," and his increasing paranoia as the company began to falter.
The show looks set up for a mix of high stakes drama, absurd comedy, and a lesson about the limits of tech-bro capitalism. Be sure to look for it sometime in 2022.