A new report says that Apple’s spend on Killers of the Flower Moon was between $200M and $250M in production costs – including at least $25M to DiCaprio – with millions more on marketing.
The movie, due for theater release next week, before a later release on Apple TV+, represents a big gamble for the company …
‘Killers of the Flower Moon’
Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon is an adaptation of the 2017 book, telling the story of a series of murders in the Osage Nation after oil was discovered on tribal land. It stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, and Lily Gladstone.
The movie premiered at the Cannes Film Festival back in May, to rave reviews, and will go on show in movie theaters on October 20.
Apple shared a trailer for the movie back in July.
Production costs soar
We first learned of Apple’s deal with Paramount back in 2020, at which point production costs were estimated to be between $180M and $200M.
A Bloomberg report says that these costs later hit somewhere in the $200M to $250M range
The movie […] is the most expensive ever released by Apple’s four-year-old studio. The company’s spent between $200 million and $250 million on production, including at least $25 million for DiCaprio, plus millions more to market it.
Apple’s gamble on a hybrid model
Apple has so far struck three deals to fund movies on a hybrid release model: Killers of the Flower Moon, Ridley Scott’s Napoleon, and Matthew Vaughn’s spy thriller Argylle. The deal for all three is this:
- The movies are funded by Apple, and billed as Apple Originals Films
- However, the distributor gets to release it first in movie theaters
- Apple only gets to show it on Apple TV+ at least 45 days later
In all, Apple is said to be investing around a billion dollars in total on hybrid productions.
The arrangement is a pretty big gamble by Apple. Forty-five days plus is a long time to wait if someone is keen to see a new movie, so the risk is that they will buy a movie theater ticket at launch, rather than wait to invest in an Apple TV+ subscription many weeks later.
But the model gets Apple the big names
Apple’s reasoning for investing in these deals is that it gives the company access to big-name directors who would be unwilling to go straight to the small screen.
By releasing movies in theaters—supported by multimillion-dollar marketing campaigns—Apple is hoping to make itself a destination for premier filmmakers who insist audiences see their work on big screens. It’s spending large sums to attract that talent, something that’s become a rite of passage for flush streaming services desperate to convince cinephiles that they’re the future of Hollywood. And, crucially, Apple would love to convert a portion of those moviegoers into Apple TV+ sign-ups.
The piece suggests that the Cupertino company is willing to lose money in the short term, for this reason.
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