Series on Apple TV+ have received several prestigious awards in recent years, although things have been slow in the film sector. CODA had won an Oscar, but other than that, Apple’s films hadn’t made much of an impact on the judges. However, that doesn’t mean Apple isn’t interested in feature films, as a new report says the opposite is true. In addition to more and more new series and the expansion of sports rights (we reported), Apple also wants to tackle more films – albeit somewhat differently than one might expect given the previous strategy.
Production for the cinema, only then Apple TV+
Content produced by Apple was very rarely seen outside of its own streaming platform. At best, public demonstrations took place when it came to festivals or other industry events. However want Bloomberg have learned that Apple spends another billion dollars a year to produce films not only for Apple TV+, but also for the cinema. These will first be shown in movie theaters, and only then will secondary exploitation be available via Apple’s film and series portal. The procedure would be quite different from the current business policy.
Distribution for thousands of cinemas
As the report states, negotiations are currently taking place between Apple and cinema operators to bring feature films to “thousands of cinemas”. Apple not only sees this as an opportunity to make productions better known, but also to advertise Apple TV+ at the same time. On the other hand, Apple wants to leave the distribution to well-known and experienced partners, because the necessary international expertise is simply lacking in-house. Apple isn’t the only company with plans to explore cinemas for the first time – Amazon has similar plans and wants to invest a comparable amount.