Apple TV+ has announced a premiere date of March 18 for WeCrashed, a limited series depicting the rise and highly publicized fall of WeWork founder Adam Neumann and his wife, Rebekah Neumann, to be portrayed by Jared Leto and Anne Hathaway.
The series is "inspired by actual events," according to Apple TV+, namely the arc of WeWork as it grew from a single coworking space to a far-reaching real estate company with a theoretical valuation of $47B — and its ensuing fallout after a botched IPO in 2019.
In the series trailer, released by Apple TV+ on Wednesday, the Neumanns are shown as the company grows, saying such things as "WeWork's role is to elevate the world's consciousness" and characterizing the coworking company as a "movement."
Adam Neumann's well-documented ego is also showcased.
"You know you're not God, right?" one character says.
"You have to admit, I do look a little bit like him," Neumann answers.
Neumann was ousted as the company's CEO in 2019 after the company's IPO sent investors running for the door over concerns about the firm's mounting losses and its unstable leadership, according to the Wall Street Journal.
WeWork majority owner SoftBank Group paid Neumann nearly $200M for consulting and other fees to give up control of WeWork, along with buying $578M worth of his shares in the company. Neumann hasn't stayed away from the CRE sector; as of earlier this month, entities tied to Neumann made nearly $1B in multifamily investments, acquiring stakes in more than 4,000 units.
The first three episodes of the series will drop at the same time, followed by weekly installments that will total eight episodes, finishing on April 22. WeCrashed also stars Kyle Marvin, America Ferrera and O-T Fagbenle.
Television producers Lee Eisenberg and Drew Crevello created the series based on a podcast, WeCrashed: The Rise and Fall of WeWork. Eisenberg and Crevello are also the series' co-writers, executive producers and co-showrunners. The episodes are directed by John Requa and Glenn Ficarra.
"What separates [WeCrashed] from other things we've seen in this genre is that we watch the story through the prism of this couple," Eisenberg told Entertainment Weekly. "We see this cult of personality within the business story."
