This Week in TV News: Apple’s Award Ambitions and a Netflix Murder Mystery

This week, we’re talking about the “Games of Thrones” prequel, Netflix’s murder mystery starring Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston, and Apple’s award season ambitions.

HBO hits big ratings. The network recently started airing “Euphoria,” a new series, and it premiered its second episode from season two of “Big Little Lies.” “Euphoria” captured around one million viewers from cable, HBO GO and HBO NOW. Episode two of “Big Little Lies” had a 7% rise in viewership from the first episode (1.5 million, up front 1.4 million viewers). (Variety)

Apple looks for awards season winners. This fall, Apple is launching Apple TV+, and the company wants the highest industry accolades to prove its quality and is looking to make six small-budget movies a year “with an eye toward stories that could win Academy Awards.” (IndieWire)

Netflix’s murder mystery is killing it. Jennifer Aniston and Adam Sandler star in Netflix’s newest original film, “Murder Mystery.” In its first three days, 30.87 million accounts watched it. This is the most successful opening weekend for a Netflix film. In the movie, a cop (Sandler) and his wife (Aniston) attempt to solve a perplexing murder aboard a yacht in Europe. (Variety)

Winter is coming, again. The as-of-now untitled “Game of Thrones” prequel began filming in Northern Ireland, a main production location for the original series. The prequel hasn’t officially gotten picked up as a series by HBO yet. HBO may be cautious considering the original series famously reshot its entire pilot after casting concerns. (TV Guide)