“There’s a lot of pressure for Apple to acquire a major studio,” Wedbush Securities Daniel Ives tells Variety. “I still think that it’s more than a 50% chance that they acquire one over the next 12 to 18 months.”
When it comes to Apple’s Hollywood ambitions, it’s all about spending big to win big.
On March 10, the tech giant has 13 shots to take home an Oscar via two historical epics, “Killers of the Flower Moon” and “Napoleon,” which nabbed 10 and three nominations, respectively. That’s given Apple the second-biggest haul among the major studios and streamers, just behind Netflix’s 18 nods and tied with Universal and Searchlight.
But at what price? Sources say the Martin Scorsese-helmed “Killers” cost an eye-popping $215 million (that includes about $40 million in Covid-related costs). In fact, Apple spent at least $700 million to make and market just three films: “Killers,” Ridley Scott’s “Napoleon” and Matthew Vaughn’s “Argylle.” The trio have earned a combined $466 million worldwide at the box office, with “Napoleon” leading the pack at $221 million, followed by “Killers” ($157 million) and “Argylle” ($88 million).
“The quality of the films has been extremely impressive and has attracted significant demand for the Apple TV+ service,” says Wedbush Securities’ Dan Ives. “But the Achilles’ heel is not the quality. They just don’t have enough [product]. I think that’s been the tug of war with Apple: They’ve achieved high quality and won Oscars, yet they lack the library in this content arms race.”
MacDailyNews Take: Shortly before the various and sundry ridiculous COVID overreactions threw several tons of monkey wrenches into, basically, everything, wasting years of everyone’s time:
A little birdie tells us that "a major Apple acquisition looms," but that "it's not yet a done deal." If it goes through, however, "people will be shocked." https://t.co/BvG5yA69Oa #AppleAcquisitions #Apple #Mergers #Acquisitions #AAPL
— MacDailyNews (@MacDailyNews) April 4, 2019
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It’s been so apparent (to me) that Apple would go deeper into visual production. Of ALL the things it’s been doing for many yrs, visual content seems the most consistent, news-worthy & vital. Relatively speaking, the opportunity for great margin returns is great too…which has been an AAPL biz characteristic forever. The Apple car was far outside of Apple’s lane, but the cultural hype for EVs made it seem exciting/plausible (and maybe Cook had a legacy dream?). The buy Disney dream materializes in a better way?
Film & Television works well with every Apple platform, and converts hardware sales into sticky subscription revenue. It’s also a premium product with global reach, which aligns nicely with Apple’s positioning in growing markets around the world.
Glad they’re doing big films, and very cool that they are partially paid off and generate huge exposure in theatres, then generate interest for Apple TV at the Oscars!)
Brilliant to be testing the waters in sports with global appeal.
When they layer in VR, Apple TV is going to blow people’s minds. It’s a business nobody can replicate.
IMHO, this is more evidence of Apple loosing its focus. I’d prefer them to focus on making their hardware and software works properly.
Plus what I’m hearing about AI and how it will impact movie making buying a studio is likely to be right up there with building an EV.
I agree, Apple is a future-focused and shaping tech company. Spending billions on an entertainment company is a bean-counting move focused on where the puck is, not where it’s going.