Apple wants total control over distributing films like 'F1'

AppleInsider

No one can say that Apple has taken a light touch in promoting, "F1: The Movie," but the film is being distributed theatrically by Warner Bros. -- and Apple reportedly wants more power.

Brad Pitt in "F1"

It's perhaps a sign of confidence in how "F1" is going to fare at the box office, and it's definitely a turn around from when Apple said to be cutting back on both big-budget movies and theatrical releases of them. According to the Wall Street Journal, Apple executives are now looking at moving into film distribution.

Apple does tend to prefer to own the whole stack in any field, and a lot of its iPhone success has been down to how it controls everything from the processors to the software. And unlike Netflix, Apple TV+ has also always pushed to have global rights to any production it shows.

It's not always been successful. Most recently in March 2025, Apple TV+ thriller "Suspicion" was sold on by its makers to the UK's ITV, because of Apple's failure to secure total rights.

Similarly, while Apple TV+ is legitimately the first streamer to win the Best Picture Oscar, it did so with "CODA", and it does not fully own the rights to that film. Despite a reported "incredibly heated" series of negotiations, "CODA" is not owned by Apple in Japan, Mexico, Italy and some other territories.

So Apple has always pursued control over ownership, but it hasn't attempted film distribution. With that, the costs and the complexities are such that Apple has relied on partnerships with other firms. Specifically, "F1" is actually be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. -- and if there isn't an actual problem, there is the potential for one.

Apple fought -- and failed -- to get global rights to "CODA," which still then won it a Best Picture Oscar

For Warner Bros. is of course also distributing movies that it has produced itself. And one of those is the very high-budget "Superman," which is due to be released in cinemas two weeks after "F1."

Consequently there has to be a question over whether Warner Bros. would naturally put more effort into marketing its own show rather than Apple's. A spokesperson for Warners said no, the company is running a "robust global marketing campaign that befits a film" of the size of "F1."

Under the deal with Apple, Warner Bros. will get an increasing percentage of box office revenue depending on how well ticket sales go. So it is in the distributor's interests to promote the film highly.

Nonethless, it's reported that unspecified sources familiar with Apple's plans, have said that Apple executives are now discussing starting their own theatrical distribution division.

The benefits and the costs to Apple

There are no further details at this time. A new division would take time to set up, as well as presenting Apple with greater upfront costs for its film marketing.

In 2024, the story was that "F1" was a test, that if it flopped as previous high-budget Apple films had, it would prompt a change to how the company produced films -- and how many it did. Perhaps as a consequence, there is as yet little information of Apple's future plans in high-budget movies, or at least few details of a schedule.

There is "Highest 2 Lowest," which will debut in theaters on August 22. Its overall budget has not been revealed, but reports claim that its star Denzel Washington has been paid $35 million -- some $15 million more than Brad Pitt for "F1."

It's not a requirement that only high-budget movies get a good distribution deal, but they are the movies where the difference in the costs versus revenue will be most noticeable.

If Apple does enter the theatrical distribution market, it could perhaps do so with its as-yet-untitled UFO conspiracy thriller. It was revealed in March 2025 that Apple had spent tens of millions just to sign the makers of "F1" to work on this, their next project, for the company.



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massiveattack

Yawn.. While other Mag 6 companies promote and attract investors with AI-driven products, Apple comes up with dead Hollywood which has been dead since Netflix.

Tim Cook rather hangs out with Hollywood celebrities while Jensen Huang meets politicians of all nations to promote Nvidia´s future.

Doesn´t Apple have anything better to do except promoting a movie, which pops up in my wallet? 

mpantone

It's worth pointing out that the Services Division has been the fastest growing business unit at Apple since before the pandemic.

It's important to remember that Apple views itself primarily as a software company: one whose software and services run best on their own proprietary hardware.

Remember that things like Apple TV and Apple Music run on hardware other than Apple's own devices. A lot of the hardware categories that Apple is involved in are saturated in industrialized nations. There's more growth potential in emerging markets.

It's also worth pointing out that something like F1 has worldwide appeal, not like Nascar which is basically limited to North America.

There's precedent in someone taking more control in film distribution. Taylor Swift did it with her Eras Tour film, bypassing the studios and film distribution network by negotiating with the major theater chains. That means the studios and distributors got shut out of a revenue cut which is where most of your movie ticket goes (the theaters actually get very little, their profitability is mostly from concessions -- that pricey tub of popcorn and soda).

Taylor Swift steamrolled the competition and the handful of studio releases that happened around the Eras Tour film release got crushed at the box office. It was a mic drop moment for the film industry. Along with her re-recorded releases of many of her earlier albums shows the entertainment industry that artists having more control over business strategies can work.

Clearly Apple took note of this. Hell, she's the one who convinced Apple to change their streaming royalty system to more fairly serve the artists.

edited June 26

massiveattack

mpantone said:

It's worth pointing out that the Services Division has been the fastest growing business unit at Apple since before the pandemic.

It's important to remember that Apple views itself primarily as a software company: one whose software and services run best on their own proprietary hardware.

Remember that things like Apple TV and Apple Music run on hardware other than Apple's own devices. A lot of the hardware categories that Apple is involved in are saturated in industrialized nations. There's more growth potential in emerging markets.

It's also worth pointing out that something like F1 has worldwide appeal, not like Nascar which is basically limited to North America.

There's precedent in someone taking more control in film distribution. Taylor Swift did it with her Eras Tour film, bypassing the studios and film distribution network by negotiating with the major theater chains. That means the studios and distributors got shut out of a revenue cut which is where most of your movie ticket goes (the theaters actually get very little, their profitability is mostly from concessions -- that pricey tub of popcorn and soda).

Taylor Swift steamrolled the competition and the handful of studio releases that happened around the Eras Tour film release got crushed at the box office. It was a mic drop moment for the film industry. Along with her re-recorded releases of many of her earlier albums shows the entertainment industry that artists having more control over business strategies can work.

Clearly Apple took note of this. Hell, she's the one who convinced Apple to change their streaming royalty system to more fairly serve the artists.

I see your point. F1 gets more popular with F1 drivers as influencers on Instagram. It attracts younger audience.
However, I think Apple needs to set some other topics as higher priorities. 
I hear from Apple employees that all departments get spendings cut.. Well.... 

strangedays

MassiveAttack said:

Yawn.. While other Mag 6 companies promote and attract investors with AI-driven products, Apple comes up with dead Hollywood which has been dead since Netflix.

Tim Cook rather hangs out with Hollywood celebrities while Jensen Huang meets politicians of all nations to promote Nvidia´s future.

Doesn´t Apple have anything better to do except promoting a movie, which pops up in my wallet? 

Wow, who knew huffing paint was still a thing. 

edited June 26

mpantone

MassiveAttack said:

mpantone said:

It's worth pointing out that the Services Division has been the fastest growing business unit at Apple since before the pandemic.

It's important to remember that Apple views itself primarily as a software company: one whose software and services run best on their own proprietary hardware.

Remember that things like Apple TV and Apple Music run on hardware other than Apple's own devices. A lot of the hardware categories that Apple is involved in are saturated in industrialized nations. There's more growth potential in emerging markets.

It's also worth pointing out that something like F1 has worldwide appeal, not like Nascar which is basically limited to North America.

There's precedent in someone taking more control in film distribution. Taylor Swift did it with her Eras Tour film, bypassing the studios and film distribution network by negotiating with the major theater chains. That means the studios and distributors got shut out of a revenue cut which is where most of your movie ticket goes (the theaters actually get very little, their profitability is mostly from concessions -- that pricey tub of popcorn and soda).

Taylor Swift steamrolled the competition and the handful of studio releases that happened around the Eras Tour film release got crushed at the box office. It was a mic drop moment for the film industry. Along with her re-recorded releases of many of her earlier albums shows the entertainment industry that artists having more control over business strategies can work.

Clearly Apple took note of this. Hell, she's the one who convinced Apple to change their streaming royalty system to more fairly serve the artists.

I see your point. F1 gets more popular with F1 drivers as influencers on Instagram. It attracts younger audience.
However, I think Apple needs to set some other topics as higher priorities. 
I hear from Apple employees that all departments get spendings cut.. Well.... 

Remember that Apple's Software Engineering and Hardware Engineering teams aren't really involved in film production. Apple has a variety of teams doing different things. That sound engineer who creates Apple Master files for Apple Music isn't writing Bluetooth device driver code. And that Apple Maps engineer isn't doing chip layout design for Johny Srouji's group two days a week.

Anyhow, Apple's senior management team believes it's important to have some exclusive content to Apple TV+ just as it has helped film studios, Amazon, Netflix, etc. They can't just buy everything. Remember that Apple are control freaks, there is far less chance of them getting what they want (in terms of content details) if they already buy a film or TV series that's already in the can.

The success of several TV shows has shown that Apple sometimes exhibits good judgment in letting creators do their thing. It's worth pointing out that Formula One is the pinnacle of motorsport and is the most technologically sophisticated racing league. Being able to draw from Apple technical prowess was a likely benefit for this film. The director still needs to tell a good story though.

It's not like next autumn's iPhone will be delayed because a couple of engineers worked on a special camera. In fact, whatever those engineers learned from the project is likely useful to iPhone development knowledge and likely provides some insight into future design and engineering decisions.

But this article is mostly about content distribution, specifically films. This isn't really an engineering discussion. The main players are likely people with law degrees and deep experience in the entertainment industry. Those people need to be around anyhow to negotiate deals for third-party content. It's not like some admin reads an e-mail inbox and green lights AppleTV+ feature films on his/her own.

If Taylor Swift can bypass the studios' distribution network and get her concert film on movie theater screens all over the world so can Apple. Taylor doesn't have a law degree but she has some working for her. Maybe some of the best entertainment industry lawyers on the planet. The Eras Tour film grossed $180 million domestically (worldwide $261M) and she didn't have to give anything to the studios. And she made Scooter Braun look like a bumbling fool and made a mountain of money doing so. 

edited June 26

radster360

I am extremely glad that Apple's Service business is extending the reach out in other are. Apple TV+ has really improved with their offerings. I am really enjoying the new content that they have been delivering. Yes, they could do better with introducing some new killer hardware. I do think that Vision Pro is a game changer, but pricing was way out there, but I think there has to be a strategy behind that. Meta has been trying so hard with their AR/VR offering for so many years, but it hasn't yet achieved that high adaption, even after selling $399 product. They seem to be after the gamers only. And, it is fully, when last year Apple Intelligence was announced and right away people had negative view and when they explained that it was focusing on inference side and not those big data model side and people started saying "Oh! I get it now". Yes, of course, their execution was a miss and they said they will hae something better in 2026. I think it was crazy for people to expect something at WWDC 2025, because that wasn't even in they play book. Let's wait and see what they do in 2026. 

While they are focusing rightfully on other revenue stream such as their Service business, they do need to work some up with something new. The word is already out that phones are going out of style and I am sure they know it too, because iPhone is their largest revenue generator and they are most likely working on their next hit. And, I don't think it is "glasses". First it was iPod, then it was iPhone, I think there is a game changer in horizon.

Apple will be 50 years old on April 1, 2026! Maybe there might be some surprise in the horizon!

macgui

mpantone said:

...There's precedent in someone taking more control in film distribution. Taylor Swift did it with her Eras Tour film, bypassing the studios and film distribution network by negotiating with the major theater chains. That means the studios and distributors got shut out of a revenue cut which is where most of your movie ticket goes (the theaters actually get very little, their profitability is mostly from concessions -- that pricey tub of popcorn and soda).

Taylor Swift steamrolled the competition and the handful of studio releases that happened around the Eras Tour film release got crushed at the box office. It was a mic drop moment for the film industry. Along with her re-recorded releases of many of her earlier albums shows the entertainment industry that artists having more control over business strategies can work.

Clearly Apple took note of this. Hell, she's the one who convinced Apple to change their streaming royalty system to more fairly serve the artists.

And her open letter about Apple streaming royalties sparked criticism of her hypocritical requirements of photographers, which in turn prompted her more ethical treatment of those photographers.

I'd like to see Swift take aim at TicketMaster and its ilk. I don't do concerts anymore but the ticketing fees are egregious and an insult to injury considering some of the prices pre-fees of concert tickets.