Apple's $1B Gamble On 3 Blockbusters: Box Office Results, Streaming Impact, And Oscar Nominations

Technology giant Apple Inc AAPL spans multiple sectors with its range of products like smartphones, laptops, and tablets, and also provides a streaming platform to subscribers with AppleTV+.

The streaming service is growing with more content including sports rights, original series and blockbuster movies. Here's a look at how the growth is progressing.

What Happened: Apple could be one of the biggest winners at this weekend's 96^th Academy Awards. The company is nominated for 13 Academy Awards, with its movies "Killers of the Flower Moon" and "Napoleon" nominated for 10 and three awards respectively.

“Killers of the Flower Moon” emerged as a top contender with 10 nominations, eyeing major awards such as Best Picture, Best Actress, and Best Supporting Actor. The film's star Lily Gladstone is the betting favorite to win Best Actress.

Apple spent $700 million on the three blockbuster movies "Killers of the Flower Moon," "Napoleon" and "Argylle" according to a report from Variety. The large spending comes as Apple tries to grow its place in the entertainment market and boost its streaming subscribers.

All three movies saw theatrical releases. Here's a look at the box office performance of the films:

• "Killers of the Flowers Moon": $67.9 million domestic, $89.0 million international, $156.9 million global
• "Napoleon": $61.5 million domestic, $159.5 million international, $221.0 million global
• "Argylle": $44.2 million domestic, $48.2 million international, $92.5 million global

In total, the three movies grossed $470.4 million worldwide according to BoxOfficeMojo.

The Variety report cites a studio source who said both "Killers of the Flower Moon" and "Napoleon" are profitable thanks to other revenue streams. The films also ranked well on the Apple app store for top grossing movies.

Box office is only one portion of the equation with Apple also having streaming rights to the film. "Killers of the Flower Moon" was the most-viewed film on the AppleTV+ streaming platform in its first 45 days of release, which likely led to an increase in subscribers looking to watch the film before the award shows.

While Netflix Inc NFLX utilizes its vast streaming platform for blockbuster movies and rarely uses the theater distribution model for its films, Apple has adopted a strategy of premiering its major films in theaters before offering them exclusively on its streaming platform, Apple TV+.

This model helps Apple recover some of its costs and could also help the company be a staple for award shows that require a theatrical run.

While "Argylle" disappointed at the box office, "Killers of the Flower Moon" and "Napoleon" were likely successes for Apple. The comments that the movies were profitable bodes well as it comes with Apple likely gaining subscribers for the streaming platform alongside the financial performance.

Academy Award wins for either film on Sunday could be icing on the cake for the big blockbuster bets.

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Why It's Important: Apple's big investments in high-budget films have likely contributed to a surge in subscribers and solidified its presence in the awards scene. However, one analyst suggests that the company’s annual $1 billion film budget, predominantly allocated to the three aforementioned movies, might have been more effectively utilized in other areas.

"The quality of the films has been extremely impressive and has attracted significant demand for the AppleTV+ service," Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives said. "But the Achilles' heel is not the quality. They just don't have enough (product)."

Apple has partnerships in place with several prominent Hollywood figures including Tom Hanks and Harrison Ford. The company also has a Formula One movie with Brad Pitt in the works and a movie set to star Matthew McConaughey pending.

The company's strategy and big spending isn't likely to change and could get more aggressive with reports that Apple is looking to bid on the global rights for Formula 1. Apple seems to be ready to spend billions on blockbuster movies and sports rights.

The company previously acquired the rights to Major League Soccer and select Major League Baseball games. The MLS bet paid off with superstar Lionel Messi joining the league and Apple seeing a boost in subscribers to the platform.

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