Apple Inc. is planning to spend $1 billion a year on movies that will be shown in theaters, according to a new report, as part of a bid to boost subscribers for its streaming service and become a bigger player in Hollywood.
Bloomberg News reported Thursday that Apple AAPL,
The Bloomberg report gave a boost to movie-theater stocks: AMC Entertainment AMC,
Upcoming Apple movies include “Killers of the Flower Moon,” starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro, and directed by Martin Scorsese; “Argylle,” starring Henry Cavill and Bryce Dallas Howard, and directed by Matthew Vaughn; and “Napoleon,” starring Joaquin Phoenix and directed by Ridley Scott.
Releasing movies in theaters would not only create a new revenue stream for Apple, but could create more pop-culture buzz when they eventually move to streaming, where many of its current, streaming-only movies have found it difficult to find a wide audience.
Bloomberg also reported that Apple may bid on rights to stream English Premier League soccer in the U.K., in a move to compete head to head with the trio of companies that hold Premier League broadcast rights through the 2024-’25 season: Amazon’s AMZN,
The Premier League wouldn’t come cheap for Apple; the league’s current deal for domestic broadcast rights sold for $6.3 billion.
