Apple is making another big move into entertainment, this time producing a $150 million+ movie directed by Martin Scorsese that stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro. Apple will take on the cost of the upcoming Killers of the Flower Moon, while Paramount will distribute it in theaters around the world.
The upside for Apple? It will bring the movie to its Apple TV Plus streaming service, according to a report by Deadline, marking its biggest film project yet by far. Apple apparently outbid other suitors like Netflix to get the movie. The report says the budget for the project could be $180-200 million.
This represents Apple's second big swing in a week for a major motion picture on its streaming service. Just last week it secured the rights to Greyhound, a Tom Hanks WWII movie originally destined for a theatrical release. That apparently cost $70 million.
This film is based on the 2017 non-fiction book Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI, about the 1920s murders of wealthy members of the Osage Nation of people in Oklahoma over oil reserves. DiCaprio and De Niro play the leads. It's described as a 'large-scale western'.
Apple is about to shake the streaming wars up again
While Apple TV Plus launched in November 2019 and has released a steady clip of new projects, this is the sort of big splash that'll help the electronics giant secure attention for its streaming service down the line. It comes at a hefty price tag, evidently, but Apple theoretically has all the money in the world to make its streaming service a big success.
The Irishman, even though it didn't win any Oscars, did secure 10 nominations and a lot of attention for Netflix. Maybe that's the sort of credibility Apple is looking for, here.
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