With F1: The Movie on track for success, what’s next for Apple’s film business?

The US$145 million global opening of Apple’s F1 The Movie came as a relief, both for the iPhone maker itself and cinema operators in the United States hoping for an original hit during this sequel-dominated summer of blockbusters. The expensive action sports drama, starring Brad Pitt, directed by Joseph Kosinski (Top Gun: Maverick) and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, was a high-stakes gamble by the California-based tech giant, which until now has enjoyed little success at cinemas. The film did better than expected in the US and Canada, generating US$57 million in ticket sales in its opening weekend, according to studio estimates. Analysts were projecting US$40 million to US$50 million, based on pre-release tracking. Warner Bros. Pictures, which is on a much-needed hot streak, distributed F1 in partnership with Apple. Because the movie cost at least US$200 million to make after tax breaks and before marketing costs, the picture is still far from profitable. But with strong reviews from audiences and critics – it has an “A” on CinemaScore, and is 83 per cent “fresh” on Rotten Tomatoes’ Tomatometer – the film should continue to perform well in the coming weeks. It will face some serious competition, with Universal Pictures’ Jurassic World Rebirth and Warner Bros.’ Superman from James Gunn following hot on its heels. The question now: what does this mean for Apple’s film business and how the company approaches theatrical releases in the future? Since Apple got into Hollywood six years ago with the launch of Apple TV+, its movie slate has struggled to come up with a big-screen success, despite huge spending on prestigious projects and big-name talent. Its Sundance acquisition, CODA, won the 2022 best picture Oscar – a first for a streaming company. But Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon and Ridley Scott’s Napoleon were not commercial hits. Argylle and Fly Me to the Moon flopped, and Wolfs was scaled back from its planned theatrical release. The Gorge, with Miles Teller and Anya Taylor-Joy, went straight to streaming. Analysts and movie industry insiders have speculated that the performance of F1 would heavily influence whether Apple dove further into blockbuster filmmaking or abandoned theatres altogether. Apple certainly treated it like a high-stakes release, having chief executive Tim Cook give an interview with Variety and promoting the film through various parts of the company, including its retail stores and its music, fitness, maps and podcast apps. Apple lacks an in-house theatrical distribution arm and instead enlists traditional studios for those duties. Warner Bros. worked with Apple on the marketing side while also contributing financially to the campaign, according to people close to the studios. As of now, it is unclear what Apple’s ambitions are for the multiplex. Spike Lee’s Denzel Washington-led thriller Highest 2 Lowest, a reimagining of the 1963 Akira Kurosawa classic High and Low, is getting a miniature theatrical window from independent entertainment company A24 ahead of its September streaming release on Apple TV+. Apple has already signed a deal for another upcoming Kosinski-Bruckheimer collaboration about UFOs. Cinema owners want to see more from Apple at a time when they are often struggling with a lack of compelling material, especially for adults. F1 showed there is hope. With the exception of Netflix, which remains set against doing a true traditional theatrical business, film studios say movies that open in cinemas do better on streaming than if they are simply dumped onto a crowded service. Amazon has again committed to cinemas since acquiring MGM Studios, after slinking away from the business model years ago. On the other hand, theatrical releases are risky, especially for a company that cares about its reputation the way Apple does. Flops are embarrassing, even for a company that is worth US$3 trillion and can afford to subsidise a filmmaker’s vision. Apple has developed a reputation for quality, especially with buzzy TV projects including Jon Hamm’s Your Friends & Neighbors, Seth Rogen’s The Studio and, more recently, Stick starring Owen Wilson. “We studied it for years before we decided to do [Apple TV+],” Cook told Variety. “I know there’s a lot of different views out there about why we’re into it. We’re into it to tell great stories, and we want it to be a great business as well. That’s why we’re into it, just plain and simple.” For Apple, the question of whether to commit to the blockbuster business is a billion-dollar component of a US$3 trillion car.

With F1: The Movie on track for success, what’s next for Apple’s film business?

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The early box office success of Apple’s Brad Pitt-led drama bodes well for the iPhone maker, and may influence its approach to future films

The early box office success of Apple’s Brad Pitt-led drama bodes well for the iPhone maker, and may influence its approach to future films