Bloomberg is reporting that Apple has plans to spend upwards of USD $1 billion per year to produce movies for theatrical release in an effort to raise their Hollywood profile, lure big name talent and attract subscribers to their paid streaming service. After their film “CODA” made Apple first streaming company to earn a Best Picture Oscar in 2022, one would think the tech giant would have already achieved all these goals. Surely nobody will be complaining about having more big budget movies to show in cinemas.

Previously, Apple only released its film productions on a limited theatrical basis, if at all, with most of them going directly to their streaming service, Apple TV+. To switch gears and release films widely in cinemas Apple will need to strike deals with third-party partners, i.e. studios, as they don’t have the internal capacity to do so. They are currently speaking with movie studios to service titles for a distribution fee.

They’ve already cut a deal with Paramount Pictures to release Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon” with the studio getting 10% of the box office for the Leonardo DiCaprio vehicle. Other titles that cold be in the mix are director Matthew Vaughn’s “Argylle” and “Napoleon,” a biopic of the French political leader being made by Ridley Scott.