The much-hyped Apple original film Killers of the Flower Moon (starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, and Lily Gladstone) will be available on video-on-demand services to buy or rent from tomorrow, Apple announced today. It will be available at “leading digital retailers” in over 100 countries. For instance, here’s where you could find Killers of the Flower Moon to watch on Amazon Prime.
This means you’ll be able to buy or rent the film, through the Apple TV Store or other VOD services, before it becomes available to stream on Apple TV+. An official streaming date has still not been announced.
Killers of the Flower Moon is the start of a new strategy for Apple’s big-budget original films division, where the company is following traditional windowing models for the first time.
Killers of the Flower Moon debuted in theaters around the world in October, and will now be available to digitally rent or buy like any other studio film, with the usual 45-day theatrical exclusivity window. Apple partnered with Paramount for the theatrical and PVOD releases. The movie will later be streaming exclusively on the Apple TV+ streaming service.
The theatrical release allows Apple to increase buzz for the film, and recoup some of the title’s $250 million production budget. The digital store release will also raise awareness of the movie as it means it will not merely be confined behind the paywall of Apple’s subscription service. Obviously, the tradeoff is that some of the draws of the usual TV+ streaming exclusivity will be diminished.
But Apple is likely betting the juiced-up marketing machine will mean the film will have an even bigger splash when it arrives on TV+, than if it had gone direct to streaming in the first place.
So far, Killers of the Flower Moon has earned about $150 million in ticket sales at cinemas worldwide. It is also a buzzy awards season contender, and will likely rack up many nominations at the next Oscars, with much attention landing on female lead Lily Gladstone as a Best Actress frontrunner.
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