Apple’s Streaming Service Just Signed A Deal To Produce Movies With A24
According to Variety, the folks at Apple just signed a deal with the folks at A24 for their upcoming (and as yet unnamed!) streaming service, a pairing that is all but guaranteed to get tongues wagging over on Film Twitter: in one corner, the possibly-shady techno-overlords whose phones some of us can't live without; in the other, the distribution house responsible for some of the best films of the past decade. Oh, what a crisis of conscience you'll have!
Here's what Variety's saying:
"Apple did not provide many specifics about the deal with A24 beyond saying it was a “multiyear agreement” and involved multiple films. It’s unclear if the movies the studio makes will be released in theaters or if they will premiere on some kind of digital platform. Financial terms of the pact were not disclosed."
In other words: we don't know what this deal is yet, exactly. Could be wholly original content that'll skip theaters and be exclusively available via Apple's streaming service. Could be that Apple gets exclusive streaming rights on A24's theatrically-released titles. Could be a lot of things, really; we'll just have to wait and see how it all shakes out.
However you cut it, it's a crafty move on Apple's part. The company (which, the word on the street suggests, was interested in buying A24 outright not too long ago) just got into bed with the most popular film distribution company in America, and will likely lock Netflix, Hulu and Amazon out of some excellent content in the process. This, in addition to the deals they've already made with folks like Steven Spielberg, Oprah Winfrey, and (checks notes) Reese Witherspoon. These folks aren't fucking around.
Do you feel one way or another about this? Got any predictions about how this might pan out? Do you look forward to a future where we're all subscribed to seventeen different streaming services at the same time? Sound off in the comments below, and stay tuned for more on this as it becomes available.
