Apple is planning an investment of 1,000 million dollars a year in the production of films to be released in theaters, not only on its platform, according to Bloomberg. This represents an increase of around 15% per year compared to the budget it had up to now for the total production of Apple TV+, its video-on-demand service, which budgets around 6,500 million dollars per year.
The goal is not only to add box office receipts to Apple’s annual balance sheet, but also to improve your positioning in Hollywood and gain brand recognition in the movie industry.
A paradigm shift to increase Apple’s reputation in the industry
So far, only a few Apple TV+ titles have made it to a few theaters, which is somewhat anomalous on a platform geared toward direct-to-consumer release and distribution of titles.
In fact, Apple has barely included a catalog produced by third parties, only a few cases focused on the pandemic stage, such as CODA, winner of the Oscar for best film in 2022; or Greyhound, purchased from Sony. The first was broadcast in some movie theaters, but the second, which was shot with that in mind, was not.
According to the original source, create brand awarenessawareness) is the main objective of the assault on movie theaters. A strategy that has its own names, according to the leak, such as Martin Scorsese, Leonardo DiCaprio or Matthew Vaughn. Precisely creating greater brand awareness in the industry could help you attract stars who believe in your projects.
Also, movies have so far been a minority in Apple TV+’s budget for its original content. Most of the cake has gone to the series, especially some with high-caliber stars, like The Morning Show, with Jennifer Anniston or Steve Carell. The greatest success so far on the platform, on the other hand, has been Ted Lasso, who started with a much more discreet squad.
One of the differences that Apple will have to face when moving from releases on its OTT to releases in theaters around the world will be in movie promotion costs, which can reach 100 million dollars in some cases. In the field of OTT these figures are much lower, and in the case of Apple, which has promoted its service little in comparison to Netflix, HBO or Prime video, even more.
Movie theaters have not yet recovered from the effect of the pandemic, having a new distributor could boost their ticket sales, although Apple has not made much noise in the more than three years it has been in business with TV+. At least if we compare it with its rivals. In its strongest market, the United States, it barely reached a 6% share a few months ago. Netflix or HBO multiplied it almost by four. If this movement helps to spur him, he will have fulfilled his mission.
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Featured Image | Jake Hills on Unsplash, Apple.
