Apple is reportedly planning to spend $1bn a year producing films for theatrical release, in a move that will offer encouragement to the exhibition sector as it continues on the post-pandemic path to recovery.
Bloomberg broke the news on Thursday, adding weight to ongoing speculation that Apple TV+ believes a hefty theatrical presence can help grow its subscriber base and commit to theatrical in a way that goes beyond previous, more limited releases it has mounted in support of films like Oscar-winner Coda or last season’s awards hopeful Causeway starring Jennifer Lawrence.
The company is understood to be lining up releases on a number of tentpoles including 2023 release Killers Of The Flower Moon, Martin Scorsese’s epic FBI crime drama on which it is working with theatrical distribution partner Paramount Pictures. The film is widely tipped to premiere out of competition in Cannes and stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, Jesse Plemons and Lily Gladstone.
Scorsese’s film is in post, as are heavyweight prospects like Ridley Scott’s historical biopic Napoleon starring Joaquin Phoenix and Vanessa Kirby, and Argylle, Matthew Vaughn’s potential spy thriller franchise which boasts an A-list cast including Henry Cavill, Ariana DeBose, Samuel Jackson, John Cena, Bryce Dallas Howard, and pop superstar Dua Lipa.
Apple has not revealed specifics about how many people subscribe to its streaming service, however the number is believed to be in the 20m-40m range – way behind the 200m+ enjoyed by Netflix and Disney+. The development comes as Amazon Studios increases its theatrical ambitions with a reported $1bn annually in support of 12-15 films. Ben Affleck’s well received SXSW premiere
Air is among them and opens exclusively in theatres on April 5 ahead of an unspecified drop on Prime Video.Netflix has experimented with theatrical releases in the past but at time of writing has no interest in a broader theatrical business. Reed Hastings, the executive chairman, admitted that the company had left money on the table when it staged a one-week-only theatrical run for Rian’s
Glass Onion : A Knives Out Mystery 10 before the murder-mystery was released on the platform. Theatre owners clamoured for extended exclusivity yet Hastings said the purpose was to tease the film’s debut on the platform.Reported moves by Apple and Amazon resonate with current thinking among big media executives. Warner Bros Discovery CEO David Zaslav is a believer in theatrical releases to exploit multiple revenue streams through the life cycle of a film’s release, as is recently returned Disney CEO Bob Iger.
Cinema stocks Cinemark, AMC and Imax rose by several points after the Bloomberg report.
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