Apple, In A Cinema Near You Soon: Streaming Rivalry Heats Up As Apple To Splurge On Original Theatrical Releases

Apple Inc AAPL eyes splurging $1 billion annually to produce movies likely for theatrical release to draw subscribers to its streaming service.
Apple has approached movie studios about partnering to release a few titles in theaters this year and a slate of more films in the future, Bloomberg reports.
The list of potential releases includes Martin Scorsese's Killers of the Flower Moon, which stars Leonardo DiCaprio; the spy thriller Argylle, from director Matthew Vaughn, and Napoleon, Ridley Scott's drama about the French conqueror.
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The company has pledged to put movies in thousands of theaters for at least a month, in stark contrast to the exclusivity of its previous original film.
Apple TV+ will likely have 20 million - 40 million subscribers, fewer than rivals such as Netflix Inc NFLX and Walt Disney Co DIS Disney+.
Apple approached third-party distributors to manage the theatrical release, which entails substantial distribution fees and marketing budgets.
Paramount Global PARA Paramount Pictures will release the Scorsese movie in theaters because the project originated at that studio and will collect a 10% distribution fee.
Tech giants Apple and Amazon.com Inc AMZN are boosting their investment in entertainment while cutting costs elsewhere.
Apple's plans will boost theater chains struggling to recover from the pandemic. The chains have repeatedly blamed studios' shortage of available films for their woes.
Contrastingly, the highest content spender Netflix wants its movies to appear in theaters and online simultaneously or within a couple of weeks.
Price Action: AAPL shares traded higher by 0.98% at $159.37 premarket on the last check Thursday.

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