Watch Matthew McConaughey play a heroic school bus driver in Apple’s new rescue thriller

Apple Original Films is building some serious momentum heading into the back half of 2025, with a lineup of feature films that blends star wattage and heart-pounding drama. The upcoming slate, for example, includes F1, a high-octane racing drama starring Brad Pitt that’s already earning rapturous praise from critics, as well as Highest 2 Lowest — a stylish crime thriller from A24 starring Denzel Washington that delivers a modern reinterpretation of Akira Kurosawa’s High and Low. Meanwhile, Apple has also just previewed yet another standout release coming soon: The Lost Bus, a rescue thriller starring Matthew McConaughey that’s based on real events.

Directed by Paul Greengrass (United 93, Captain Phillips) and written by Greengrass alongside Mare of Easttown creator Brad Ingelsby, The Lost Bus stars McConaughey and America Ferrera as two unlikely heroes caught in the chaos of the so-called “Camp Fire” that began in Butte County, Calif., in 2018 and killed dozens of people. In the movie, McConaughey plays a school bus driver, while Ferrera is a devoted teacher, and together they attempt to lead 22 children to safety as the deadliest wildfire in California’s history bears down on them.

Apple previewed The Lost Bus this weekend, with a teaser trailer (below) that’s so visceral you can almost smell the smoke clouding the air. The movie is also inspired by journalist Lizzie Johnson’s book Paradise: One Town’s Struggle to Survive an American Wildfire, which came out of her on-the-ground reporting for the San Francisco Chronicle when the fire first broke out.

Within hours, the fast-moving inferno had consumed entire neighborhoods, reduced landmarks to ash, and left residents scrambling to escape. Drawing on interviews, 911 calls, and grand jury records, Johnson’s book delivers a moment-by-moment account of that day — as well as an indictment of failed systems that encompass everything from aging utility infrastructure to weak emergency alerts and the rising toll of climate-fueled disasters.

With The Lost Bus, Apple is turning that account into an edge-of-your-seat drama anchored around jaw-dropping visuals (one that’s also coming out the same year as the devastating Palisades wildfires that tore through parts of Los Angeles in January). And with a team that includes producers Jason Blum and Jamie Lee Curtis, the film is clearly positioned as a major streaming and theatrical release for fall 2025, with specific release timing to come later.