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The wild story behind Beanie Babies is becoming an Apple movie

Zach Galifianakis, Elizabeth Banks and Succession's Sarah Snook tell the bizarre tale of the '90s craze.

Richard Trenholm Former Movie and TV Senior Editor
Richard Trenholm was CNET's film and TV editor, covering the big screen, small screen and streaming. A member of the Film Critic's Circle, he's covered technology and culture from London's tech scene to Europe's refugee camps to the Sundance film festival.
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Ty Warner, the man behind the Beanie Baby craze.

Ty Warner, the man behind the Beanie Baby craze. 

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The only thing wilder than the inflated prices people paid for Beanie Babies in the 1990s is the true story of the people behind those cutesy toys. That's the subject of The Beanie Bubble, a new film from Apple that will star Zach Galifianakis, Elizabeth Banks, Geraldine Viswanathan and Sarah Snook (Succession's Shiv Roy).

The Beanie Bubble is inspired by the story of Ty Warner, a failed actor and troubled salesman who turned Beanie Baby plush toys into a multimillion-dollar craze in the late 1990s. The book and forthcoming film, which should stream on Apple TV Plus, reveal the influence of the women in Warner's life who went uncredited for their role in this early internet fad.

Emmy-nominated writer Kristin Gore of Saturday Night Live and Futurama is adapting the book The Great Beanie Baby Bubble: Mass Delusion and the Dark Side of Cute by Zac Bissonnette.

Gore co-directs with her husband, Damian Kulash, the singer of OK Go who has directed several of the band's famous viral videos.

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