Report: Apple TV+ Pivoting Movie Strategy Amid Disappointing Performance

Apple is retreating from its ambitious plans for wide theatrical movie releases after several of its high-budget films failed to meet box office expectations, Bloomberg reports.

Apple TV Plus Feature 2 Dark Teal
Apple is believed to have initially set aside $1 billion annually to produce big-budget films for cinemas, aiming to compete with traditional Hollywood studios. The company's goal was ostensibly to release a series of blockbuster movies that could drive ticket sales, win prestigious awards, and elevate its profile in the film industry.

Films such as Martin Scorsese's Killers of the Flower Moon, Ridley Scott's Napoleon, and Matthew Vaughn's Argylle were expected to perform strongly at the box office, but each delivered disappointing results. As a result, Apple is now said to be scaling back these plans with a growing emphasis on using limited theatrical windows to qualify for awards while primarily marketing its films as streaming titles.

One of the biggest signs of this shift was the cancellation of the wide global release of Wolfs, an action comedy starring George Clooney and Brad Pitt. The film had originally been slated for a broad theatrical debut in thousands of cinemas around the world. Instead, it was released in a limited number of theaters before becoming available for streaming on Apple TV+ on September 27.

Apple's leadership has reportedly been seeking to rein in costs across its entertainment division. While the company is said to remain committed to its $1 billion annual film budget, it will now focus on producing fewer high-budget films, reducing the number of theatrical releases, and scaling down the average production cost of its movies. According to sources familiar with the company's plans, Apple will continue to produce about a dozen films per year, most with budgets under $100 million.

Only one or two major titles each year will be given larger budgets and wide theatrical releases, such as the upcoming film F1, starring Brad Pitt, which is set for a global release in June 2025. F1 is expected to be Apple's most expensive movie to date, with a reported production budget of over $300 million.

Popular Stories

ipad mini 2021 youtube

New Report Reveals When to Expect the iPad Mini 7

Tuesday October 1, 2024 2:09 pm PDT by
Apple is working on a new iPad mini that will "potentially" be released "by the end of 2024," according to a report today from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Last month, Gurman reported that Apple had "new iPads in the works," including an upgraded version of the iPad mini. At the time, he said the device was "on deck for Apple's October event" alongside the first M4 Macs. The wording in his...
airpods pro 2 gradient

AirPods Pro 3 Expected Next Year: Here's What We Know

Tuesday October 1, 2024 5:47 am PDT by
Despite being released over two years ago, Apple's AirPods Pro 2 continue to dominate the wireless earbud market. However, with the AirPods Pro 3 expected to launch sometime in 2025, anyone thinking of buying Apple's premium earbuds may be wondering if the next generation is worth holding out for. Apart from their audio and noise-canceling performance, which are generally regarded as...
apple silicon mac lineup wwdc 2022 feature purple

MacBook Pro, iMac, and Redesigned Mac Mini With M4 Chips on Track to Launch 'This Year'

Tuesday October 1, 2024 1:57 pm PDT by
Apple plans to release new MacBook Pro, iMac, and Mac mini models with the M4 series of chips "this year," according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Gurman initially said these Macs would likely be announced during a virtual event this October, but he has been more vague about the timing lately, with wording such as "in the coming weeks" and now merely "this year." In any case, it is clear that...
15 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18

15 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18.1

Friday September 27, 2024 6:14 am PDT by
Apple is set to release iOS 18.1 in October, bringing the first set of Apple Intelligence features to iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 models. This update marks a significant step forward in Apple's AI integration, offering a new Siri contextually-aware experience and a range of additional capabilities powered by on-device machine learning and large language models. There are a couple of handy new...
iPhone SE 4 Thumb 2

Apple's Next New iPhone to Debut in the Spring: What to Expect

Tuesday October 1, 2024 3:14 am PDT by
Apple's budget-friendly iPhone SE is set for a major overhaul with a fourth generation model expected to launch in spring 2025. The upcoming model will mark a significant departure from its predecessors, adopting several features from higher-end iPhones while maintaining its position as the most affordable new model in Apple's lineup. According to recent reports, the iPhone SE 4 will sport a ...
iPhone SE 4 Thumb 1

iPhone SE With Apple Intelligence, New iPad Air, and More Reportedly Launching 'Early Next Year'

Tuesday October 1, 2024 12:38 pm PDT by
Apple plans to release a new iPhone SE with Apple Intelligence support, new iPad Air models, and an updated Magic Keyboard for the iPad Air at some point "early next year," according to a report today from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. The next iPhone SE will have a similar design as the iPhone 14, including an edge-to-edge screen with a notch, according to Gurman. This means the device will...
m3 mbp space black

What to Expect From an Apple Event in October: iPad Mini 7, Redesigned Mac Mini, and More

Friday September 27, 2024 11:47 am PDT by
Apple will likely hold another event in October this year to announce new Macs and iPads. If so, it would be the fourth time in the last five years that Apple has held an event in October. Last year, Apple held a virtual event on Monday, October 30 to announce new MacBook Pro and iMac models with the M3 series of chips. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Below, we...
Generic iOS 18

iOS 18.0.1 Coming Soon: What to Expect for Your iPhone

Wednesday October 2, 2024 5:50 am PDT by
Following the release of iOS 18 for the iPhone last month, Apple is preparing to release iOS 18.0.1 with bug fixes in the near future. We previously reported that Apple has been internally testing iOS 18.0.1, and today a private account on X with a proven track record of sharing iOS-related information said the update will have a build number of 22A3370. We expect iOS 18.0.1 to be a minor ...

Top Rated Comments

JippaLippa Avatar
4 days ago at 06:45 am
They should concentrate on making thought provoking serieses, such as Severance.
Score: 27 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Mac Fly (film) Avatar
4 days ago at 06:55 am

People are sick of the billionaire class preaching to us via TV and movies. Apple TV+ is doomed for that reason alone.
Apple is probably too political to be in the entrainment business. They should get out and make good products instead.
Score: 27 Votes (Like | Disagree)
brofkand Avatar
4 days ago at 06:53 am
People are sick of the billionaire class preaching to us via TV and movies. Apple TV+ is doomed for that reason alone.
Score: 26 Votes (Like | Disagree)
orangeadrenaline Avatar
4 days ago at 06:43 am
I watched Wolfs and it wasn’t very good. It’s just 2 guys bantering back and forth the whole time. Boring
Score: 24 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Mac Fly (film) Avatar
4 days ago at 06:45 am
Get out of the TV Show and movie business and have the numerous other companies who have streaming apps do that. Refocus on hardware. If they want to do content they should do AAA games, make a first party game controller and upgrade Apple TV to be a living room device capable of handling those games, and have games from this focus work also with Mac. Otherwise do cloud software, AI, operating systems and hardware and quitting messing around with the distraction that is Hollywood.
Score: 23 Votes (Like | Disagree)
stocklen Avatar
4 days ago at 06:44 am
This seems a ridiculously naive expectation.

Personally, I would never pay for a cinema ticket for an Apple movie because I know that its coming to AppleTV+ very soon.
Argyll we had to wait quite a few weeks for but it was coming so why go and pay cinema prices when its coming as part of the AppleTV+ subscription you already pay.

That's why they haven't done well in cinemas - sure some of them have been less than stellar movies but hey.
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)