Skip to Content

Apple Developing New TV Show Based on Bestselling Novel 'Pachinko'

pachinkoApple has secured the rights to create a new TV series based on Min Jin Lee's bestselling 2017 novel "Pachinko," reports Variety.

"Pachinko," a National Book Award finalist, chronicles the lives of four generations of a poor Korean immigrant family as they migrate to and establish a life in Japan.

The story begins in 1911 with the birth of Sunja, who becomes involved with a married yakuza, falling pregnant and facing ruin in her small village. The town's minister offers her a new life in Japan as his wife, where she is alone, lost, and unable to speak the language. The book then follows the Sunja's family through eight decades and four generations.

The TV adaptation of "Pachinko" will be written and produced by Soo Hugh, who will also serve as showrunner. Hugh has previously worked on "The Terror," "The Whispers," "Under the Dome," and "The Killing."

"Pachinko" is just one of more than a dozen original television shows Apple has in the works, several of which are based on novels.

It's not yet clear how Apple will distribute its TV shows, but the Cupertino company is rumored to be considering launching a new streaming video service that would perhaps be bundled with an Apple Music subscription and a digital magazine and news subscription.

Rumors have suggested the first of Apple's TV shows could debut in March 2019, and several of them are indeed in the casting phase and could begin filming in the near future.

Related Roundup: Apple TV
Buyer's Guide: Apple TV (Don't Buy)

Popular Stories

imac video apple feature

Apple Unveils Seven New Products

Friday March 6, 2026 11:48 am PST by
Apple this week unveiled seven products, including an iPhone 17e, an iPad Air with the M4 chip, updated MacBook Air and MacBook Pro models, a new Studio Display, a higher-end Studio Display XDR, and an all-new MacBook Neo that starts at just $599. iPhone 17e features the same overall design as the iPhone 16e, but it gains Apple's A19 chip, MagSafe for magnetic wireless charging and magnetic...
Apple MacBook Pro M4 hero

Apple Planning 'MacBook Ultra' With Touchscreen and Higher Price

Sunday March 8, 2026 8:05 am PDT by
Apple is planning to launch an all-new "MacBook Ultra" model this year, featuring an OLED display, touchscreen, and a higher price point, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports. Gurman revealed the information in his latest "Power On" newsletter. While Apple has been widely expected to launch new M6-series MacBook Pro models with OLED displays, touchscreen functionality, and a new, thinner design...
MacBook Neo Feature Pastel 1

First MacBook Neo Benchmarks Are In: Here's How It Compares to the M1 MacBook Air

Thursday March 5, 2026 4:07 pm PST by
Benchmarks for the new MacBook Neo surfaced today, and unsurprisingly, CPU performance is almost identical to the iPhone 16 Pro. The MacBook Neo uses the same 6-core A18 Pro chip that was first introduced in the iPhone 16 Pro, but it has one fewer GPU core. The MacBook Neo earned a single-core score of 3461 and a multi-core score of 8668, along with a Metal score of 31286. Here's how the...

Top Rated Comments

Kaibelf Avatar
99 months ago
What's the point? Sort your hardware out.
This line of thinking brought to you by the Packard Bell School of Business and the Steve Ballmer Foundation.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
99 months ago
Apple should probably stick with updating it's aging hardware platform. What's with these weird ass tv shows and Apple? Carpool Karaoke .. need I say more? It's like Disney saying they're going to make a horror film. They can't. It's Disney!

Either do it all in and stop piece meal BS or don't do it at all.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TimmeyCook Avatar
99 months ago
Keeping it safe for the global audience.

Sucks.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
rafark Avatar
99 months ago
Doesn't seem to be a very bright future for Apple in the streaming industry with dull titles like this one and the others rumored.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
1applerules1 Avatar
99 months ago
That sounds extremely lame
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
99 months ago
I like these kinds of stories and hope they see the light of day
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)