Apple Rethinks Its Movie Strategy After a String of Misses (opens in new tab)

According to the article, this is how the the strategy was rethought:

> This spring, top executives held a meeting at company headquarters. The result was a new edict, according to two people familiar with the details, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an internal gathering. Apple’s studio would make one or two event-size films a year, with big budgets and expansive theatrical releases. The rest of its films would have budgets of $80 million or less, the people said.

It puts into context how generously Apple was funding prestige cinema and TV before. I always wondered how long it would last – it _seemed_ like iPhone sales was propping up a lot of TV and filmmaking for a while. (It's only possible to speculate here: Apple hides everything under the "Services" line item in their public filings, and it looks like Apple's been notoriously opaque even with top creatives [1].)

[1] https://www.theverge.com/23298275/apple-severance-ben-stille...

If I look at my streaming platform subscriptions (very few anymore), AppleTV is still a source of more good series than any other: Separation, Ted Lasso, Acapulco, The Morning Show, etc. YMMV. If I think of cancelling it, I think, "well, but they do have good shows now and then."

So turning a movie almost no one sees into a hit series makes total sense. "Theatrical release" still has some prestige with actors, but they'll get over it someday.