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Apple Film Budget Is $1 Billion Dollars With Goal Of Breaking Into Theaters
Apple reportedly plans to spend $1 billion a year to release movies in theaters. Launched in 2019, Apple TV+ still lags behind its rivals – Netflix, Disney+, and Prime Video – in terms of total subscribers, but with the touching coming-of-age drama CODA, it became the first streaming service to win the prestigious Best Picture award. In addition to film, Apple TV+ has burst onto the television streaming scene with the Emmy-winning comedy Ted Lasso and the buzzy drama Severance.
Now, it appears the tech giant has ambitions beyond its small-screen streaming service. According to Bloomberg, Apple is reportedly planning to spend $1 billion a year to release movies in theaters. The plan is apparently part of an ambitious effort to increase its profile in Hollywood and bring more subscribers to its streaming service. A spokesperson from Apple declined to comment on the reported plan.
Which Upcoming Apple Movies Could Release In Theaters
The reported $1 billion investment would be a substantial increase for Apple compared to previous years, as most of their original movies have been exclusive to their streaming service or given limited theatrical releases. The new plan would give Apple movies more traditional theatrical rollouts in thousands of theaters across the country for at least one month. Before this report surfaced, Apple had already been approaching big studios about partnering to release titles in theaters as early as this year.
One of those titles is Martin Scorsese's Killers of the Flower Moon starring Leonardo DiCaprio. Like every Scorsese-DiCaprio collaboration, the drama about the murders in the Osage Nation during the 1920s is becoming an event film and is expected to be a big player come awards season. Killers of the Flower Moon is expected to premiere at either the Cannes or Venice Film Festival and be co-distributed by Apple TV+ and Paramount in theaters later this year.
Two other potential Apple theatrical releases are Argylle starring Henry Cavill and Ridley Scott's Napoleon starring Joaquin Phoenix. The Matthew Vaughn spy thriller Argylle is expected to launch a franchise, and Napoleon, which represents a reunion for Phoenix and Scott after Gladiator, is also expected to be an awards season player. It makes sense Apple would want to give these movies a big boost by giving them the benefit of a ballyhooed theatrical release.
