Tenzing

A determined man embarks on a high-stakes quest—and defies seemingly impossible odds—to fulfill his dream of being the first to reach the summit of Mount Everest.

ReleaseOctober 9, 2026

StatusRELEASED

StudioApple Studios

Why it matters

Acclaimed Sherpa director Jennifer Peedom pairs with stars Tom Hiddleston and Willem Dafoe for an Apple Studios drama centered on Mount Everest pioneer Tenzing Norgay.

About Tenzing

Apple Studios turned the first ascent of Everest into a feature, and Tenzing tells the story from the side the old newsreels tended to crop. Genden Phuntsok plays Tenzing Norgay, the Sherpa climber who stood on the summit in 1953 beside Edmund Hillary, played by Tom Hiddleston. Willem Dafoe is expedition leader John Hunt, and Caitriona Balfe and Thinley Lhamo also appear. Jennifer Peedom directs her first narrative feature here after years of mountain documentaries, working from a screenplay by Luke Davies.

The movie opened in select theaters on October 9, 2026, and reached Apple TV on October 16. It premiered at Telluride in early September and played Toronto soon after, the usual festival path for an awards-season release. Expect a period drama rather than a survival thriller: the expedition is heavily documented, the outcome is in every history book, and the interest lies in how a climb credited for decades to Hillary looks when the camera stays with his partner.

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