Apple's Oscar-Winning Ambitions to be Spearheaded By Six Original Movies a Year, With a Budget up to $30 Million per Film - MacRumors
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Apple's Oscar-Winning Ambitions to be Spearheaded By Six Original Movies a Year, With a Budget up to $30 Million per Film

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Apple plans to produce six small-budget movies a year with an eye toward stories that could win Academy Awards, according to The New York Post.

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The Post's sources claim Apple wants to spend between $5-$30 million on each movie, and that it has already approached "elevated" directors and other film talent about bankrolling projects with Oscar-winning potential.

Apple is looking to spend $5 million to $30 million per project, sources said, adding that the company is being driven by Netflix’s recent spate of Oscar nominations and win for Best Foreign Film with "Roma" — legitimizing Netflix head Reed Hastings' standing in Hollywood.

"They are taking meetings and hiring," one agency source said of Apple, adding that the meetings are being generated by the company's original feature films unit, headed by Matt Dentler, formerly of iTunes Movies.

According to the report, Apple's search for six small-budget movies is not related to its multiyear agreement to make films with A23, the studio that produced the Oscar-winning "Moonlight."

Apple is working on dozens of original TV shows and movies with high-profile directors, producers, and actors, with all of that content set to be available through a new Apple TV+ app that's going to be released this fall. Check out our dedicated roundup to learn everything that we know so far about Apple's new streaming TV service.

Tags: Apple TV Plus Guide, Apple TV Shows

Top Rated Comments

baryon Avatar
baryon
89 months ago
The more companies produce movies, the better for the movie industry and the audience. The monopoly of a handful of big studios is never good.

What I hate though is the exclusivity. If you want to watch an HBO series, you need to subscribe to HBO Go. Netflix film? Netflix subscription. Apple TV? Subscribe.

I think films should be free from the restraints of studios. You should be able to rent them, buy them or watch them anywhere, regardless of which company produced it. You should be able to watch a Netflix film on iTunes or an Apple TV film on Netflix. Exclusivity is poison.

Before, you could watch any film at the cinema, on TV, DVD, BluRay, iTunes, etc... It didn't matter who produced it, you were free to watch it on whatever platform you wanted. You shouldn't have to subscribe to every single damn service just to be able to watch all films that are being released. Renting or buying films one by one like on iTunes should be possible for every single film ever made.
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
keysofanxiety Avatar
keysofanxiety
89 months ago
Stick to computers Apple. Don't forget your core business. (waiting for the onslaught)
Shame they didn’t take your advice and could have prevented that disastrous foray into the music player, phone, and tablet business.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
keysofanxiety Avatar
keysofanxiety
89 months ago
“Oscar-winning ambitions” at “5-30 million” USD. LOL.
Ex Machina had a $15 million budget and Battlefield Earth had a $73 million budget.

You can’t throw money at a film to make it good. $10 million+ is still a significant budget and can produce some incredible results in the right hands.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
sparkie7 Avatar
sparkie7
89 months ago
Stick to computers Apple. Don't forget your core business. (waiting for the onslaught)
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
juanm Avatar
juanm
89 months ago
Well, at least someone will buy their new Mac Pro, I guess.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
V
vaxes
89 months ago
“Oscar-winning ambitions” at “5-30 million” USD. LOL.
Manchester by the sea had a budget of 9 mil, Moonlight had a budget of 1.5-4 mil and La La Land had a budget of 30 mil.
All 3 won the big awards.
Art house films don't need a massive budget to win big, I am sure Apple will play right into to the target audience to get a few awards.

-AE
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
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