’Think different’ was an iconic Apple ad campaign, and it might just be the best way to summarize the company’s new Apple TV+ strategy for movies. Here’s why recent debuts like Highest 2 Lowest and F1 reflect a growing trend of Apple making movies that Hollywood won’t.
Apple has found success with big-budget, original films in an industry of sequels and remakes
Just one short year ago, Apple’s movie strategy was in disarray.
Following a string of box office disappointments, the company abruptly canceled its theatrical plan for Wolfs and released the George Clooney-Brad Pitt thriller on Apple TV+ instead.
It turns out, that moment has proven pivotal for Apple’s newfound movie success.
All signs indicate Wolfs would have flopped at the box office. But on Apple TV+, it quickly became the streamer’s best performing movie of all time.
Earlier this year, The Gorge hit Apple TV+ and broke Wolfs’ newly set record for an Apple film launch.
Since then, Apple has released:
Fountain of Youth, with John Krasinski and Natalie Portman in an Indiana Jones-style adventure
F1 The Movie, by far Apple’s biggest theatrical hit ever
Highest 2 Lowest, an NYC crime thriller from Denzel Washington and Spike Lee
Next month, Apple TV+ will also premiere The Lost Bus starring Matthew McConaughey.
Aside from F1, all of these titles have had limited or no theatrical release, instead prioritizing Apple TV+ debuts.
But there’s something even more important in common: they’re the kind of original movies that Hollywood has largely stopped making.
Sequels, remakes, and IP-based films now dominate the film market, and originality is struggling. Sizable budgets for original titles are a rarity.
But Apple, no doubt bolstered by its massive cash reserves, is taking a different approach.
Funding the original movies Hollywood studios won’t
In a recent interview with Vanity Fair, Denzel Washington and Spike Lee were asked if the lack of wide theatrical bow for Highest 2 Lowest was disappointing. They replied:
“That’s the nature of the business now—they [Apple] also gave us a lot of money to make the film,” Washington says. “The industry has changed. Time has changed. So we’ve got to change with the times.” Lee adds, “This film would not have been made without Apple. That’s just the truth.”
Similar things have been said about F1, which has turned into one of the box office’s biggest summer hits.
Ryan Scott writes at Slash Film:
Original movies, sad to say, aren’t exactly thriving in theaters at the moment. For the most part, it’s still sequels, remakes, reboots, or motion pictures based on something that already exists dominating commercially. But Apple, of all the players in Hollywood, has now come along to give 2025 by far its biggest original hit at the box office
F1 producer (and famed driver) Lewis Hamilton shared on X: “To get it authentic, to get the technology, to get that real live-action experience, there’s only one company that can make it happen. That wouldn’t have been possible without Apple.”
I’ve heard countless industry insiders mention F1’s big budget being a huge risk for an adult-focused, non-sequel or remake. But it’s paid off for Apple.
The halo effect of increased Apple TV+ success surely helps. But strategy appears a key component too.
Apple has found a sweet spot in putting most films on Apple TV+, while only select crowd pleasers get theatrical pushes. And now the company has one of the biggest theatrical hits at the box office, and is enjoying its best year ever for Apple TV+.
If Apple solidifies a reputation as the place to make original films, this trend will only continue. Thus, making Apple TV+ and the company’s future theatrical bets even more likely to succeed.
Apple TV+ is available for $12.99 per month and features hit TV shows and movies like Ted Lasso, Severance, The Morning Show, Silo, and Shrinking.
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