According to the Wall Street Journal, iPhone maker Apple will launch their feature films to theaters prior to releasing them on their new streaming platform, Apple+.
This is in contrast to their rivals, Netflix and Disney+ who release straight to their streaming platforms.
Apple hopes the move will attract bigger name directors and talent to work with them. Apple+ will launch on November 1st for $5 per month. The streaming service will spend $2 billion on original content, a drop in the bucket to Netflix’s $10 billion in content creation.
From Reuters:
Sofia Coppola’s “On the Rocks”, starring Bill Murray and produced in partnership with “Moonlight” producers A24, will be among Apple’s first major theatrical releases in mid-2020.
Alfonso Cuaron won the best director Oscar for Netflix’s Roma this year, which was given only a limited theatrical release.
In a victory for it and other streaming services, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences later voted not to change its rules to demand Oscar nominees must play in theaters for a minimum period before being launched on other small screen mediums.
Apple is spending $2 billion on original content this year but is still dwarfed by the industry leader Netflix, which has a reported $10 billion budget for content and 151 million paid subscribers.
Susan Saunders 9/27/19
