Report: Apple TV+ Pivoting Movie Strategy Amid Disappointing Performance

[yukari]

TLDR;

Apple needs someone who knows movies to head its entertainment (or Apple TV) division. Wolfs was a made for TV movie at best. That's a couple of hours I never get back.

Most of the movies and even Apple TV series have been very disappointing. Just because you got a big star name(s) does not mean it is of any good quality.

For most part, Apple has been paying for the marquee name not the substance behind the movies.

 

[Chungry]

Most of what Apple produces is good. We watched wolfs over the weekend and really enjoyed it. Aside from the 10 Emmy Awards, people are right. Apple programming is terrible. /s

That’s like saying we should all eat poo because millions (billions?) of flies can’t be wrong. Emmy and Academy awards aren’t some unassailable mark of greatness and quality. Often they get sidetracked by Hollywood politics and playing that whole game well.

 

[TracesOfArsenic]

Funny, that! You can't just enter an established industry and expect to dominate it straight off the bat. Greedy Apple. It's Pippen all over again.

 

[dampfnudel]

Oh look, it's the ******tification of Entertainment. Tech enters the spaces, overpromises, underdelivers, then devalues the product. How did we not see it coming.

Apple seems to be moving too far from its comfort zone and it’s beginning to $how. Thankfully Apple didn’t go down the automotive rabbit hole, but some pivoting with Apple TV+ is definitely in order now. It’s time to get smart and push aside the intoxicating effects that certain A-lister$ have on Tim & company.

 

[Mr. Jenkins]

I watched Wolfs and it wasn’t very good. It’s just 2 guys bantering back and forth the whole time. Boring

I liked it. I'd gladly watch it from the comfort of my couch. I wouldn't pay to watch it in a movie theater.

 

[svish]

Good to know about this. Looking forward to seeing good quality moves on TV+

 

[vaxes]

Two suggestions.

Stop throwing money at big names hoping for a success.
They are just phoning it in and taking the pay packet.

Make Apple TV+ free with a limited set of ads at the start of each TV episode or Movie while also doing a 90 day cinema release for films.

-AE

 

[Dawn of Individual Merit]

I remember when AppleTV was new, and people were saying, oh you have to watch Ted Lasso. Seriously, it's good, and nothing at all like Apple's first show, Planet of the Apps (remember that one?).

And then I watched half an episode and it was just the blandest of slop.

Let me free trial run out and never watched anything produced by Apple ever again.

Would really prefer if they took all these billions and increase the capacities of their QA teams - but of course, we all know that won't happen. Cook said it himself: making streaming content is "a great opportunity for us both from a creation point of view and an ownership point of view."
Cook thinks that people will just watch whatever, so it doesn't matter if they start having corporate beef with Netflix or Amazon. You can always stream the stuff we create! It's all the same anyway!

 

[nikaru]

Apple seems to be moving too far from its comfort zone and it’s beginning to $how. Thankfully Apple didn’t go down the automotive rabbit hole, but some pivoting with Apple TV+ is definitely in order now. It’s time to get smart and push aside the intoxicating effects that certain A-lister$ have on Tim & company.

No, Apple is doing the opposite - it is moving only in its comfort zone by self-censoring quite a lot of content as to avoid any eventual brand damage. Apple executives and PR teams are going through all scripts and deleting content, characters, etc BIG TIME as they don't want anything controversial or potentially offensive being shown with the Apple logo on it. The end-product is a boring show or movie. Apple is literally killing the creativity of the producers, directors and actors it hires for its original family-friendly content. Making a few decent shows and movies per year won't make Apple TV+ successful. It needs a large library of diverse content for every taste as the service is available around the globe.

 

[DB2k]

These movies were terrible
Flowers of the moon was just so self indulgent it was ridic - went on forever and was poor
Argylle was just a computer generated pos
Wolfs was tat
Havent watched Napoleon yet - looks too long.
Didnt watch that Ana De Amas/Ben Affleck one either after the reviews were so bad.

 

[Bodhitree]

People are sick of the billionaire class preaching to us via TV and movies. Apple TV+ is doomed for that reason alone.

This I found interesting. Apple a long time ago used to be proud of their heritage of oddballs and mavericks, what if they were to embrace that and produce content that was a bit ‘different’. Severance was wildly successful because it was partly a protest against corporate culture, besides being good tv.

The current incarnation of Apple TV+ is rather straight, a lot of the content doesn’t really speak to me. I return to it to watch Foundation mostly.

 

[L92]

No, Apple is doing the opposite - it is moving only in its comfort zone by self-censoring quite a lot of content as to avoid any eventual brand damage. Apple executives and PR teams are going through all scripts and deleting content, characters, etc BIG TIME as they don't want anything controversial or potentially offensive being shown with the Apple logo on it. The end-product is a boring show or movie. Apple is literally killing the creativity of the producers, directors and actors it hires for its original family-friendly content. Making a few decent shows and movies per year won't make Apple TV+ successful. It needs a large library of diverse content for every taste as the service is available around the globe.

I have the same sense about them. I've heard the creatives love to work with the Apple TV+ team, however, at this point I'm pretty sure that's about the pay check, and in real life, they do have quite tight grip over the creative process. And it shows.
Also if there is a character with 5 year old brandless android phone, it will be the bad guy for sure, at this point that's quite comical.

 

[andiwm2003]

I for one am happy to see this shift. There are already enough generic movies out there and the concept of paying extreme amounts of money to superstar actors to lure people into theaters turns me off. There are enough great actors out there that cost a fraction of what Clooney or Brad Pitt charge (nothing against them, i love them as actors). Apple should focus on new and exiting stories, good production value rather than trying to get attention by hiring superstars for huge budgets. Netflix movies and series in the past did this and they were often great. That was the recipe for good movies but now we are back to the same lame hollywood stuff. old stories, sequels and prequels in old franchises, and big names in the hope to make people watch boring stuff.

 

[dmr727]

If they want to do content they should do AAA games, make a first party game controller and upgrade Apple TV to be a living room device capable of handling those games, and have games from this focus work also with Mac.

I dunno man, the gaming industry isn't exactly healthy either.

Wish Apple would get out of content altogether and focus on getting their **** straight with their core competencies.

 

[Razorpit]

I have instinctive, though somewhat irrational desire to avoid Apple's original content, because I don't see Apple as someone who I want choosing content for me, or even someone whose choices I'd agree with. Consequently I've only seen a small handful of Apple TV+ content. It was a much better look for Apple when they stayed out of the content business and instead focused on using the negotiating power to bringing content from others to users.

AppleNews is completely broken. I'll occasionally open it to see what Popular Mechanics is up to, but can't remember when the last time that was. Apple's view of the world, current events, and politics is very different than mine. So much so that they have to force their views and opinions on me even though I specifically told them not to send me articles from select "news agencies."

Before the Avatar sequel, I would have said apple should try to collaborate with James Cameron, but not now. I thought the Way of Water was a huge letdown and I am not looking forward to the third installment.

I know a lot of people will disagree with me, but I wish apple would focus more resources on creating more content for the Vision Pro including sporting events and concerts, even if they're not broadcast live.

You thought #2 was bad just wait, I believe there's another 4 in the plan. Can't imagine how much of an insufferable person Cameron will be by the time 5 and 6 are out. 😄

Shame because I appreciated his early work and the technologies he helped mature not only with film making but underwater technologies with submersibles during Titanic exploration.

 

[nt5672]

So as a not-rich guy, you must know what films people like you want to see. If I am right, you could very soon because very rich.

What I'm getting at here is that you are right in that rich guys don't seem to know what will work. But also you and I don't know either. No one does.

Hollywood seems to be too conservative and likes to make sequels to hit shows, then they get blasted for not being very creative. It's hard to win.

Not sure I agree, a successful movie requires a good storyline, good actors, good directors, and good special effects.

The story lines that work have been known for a long time as story telling has existed for centuries. Book authors figure it out all of the time.

A lot of the people with money don't like the known good storylines, they want to push propaganda. If the storyline is not good it does not matter how good the rest of the production is, it will fail. But a lot of the people financing these productions don't really care if it fails or not, because they are not financing the production to make money or to make people feel good, but to push propaganda.

I do agree that sequels can be pushed past the point of value, but a good story line will save even that. Look at the James Bond series. The sequels that fail, usually fail to have a good storyline. It is not the characters, it is the story that succeed or fails.

 

[satchmo]

They should aspire to do edgy and interesting film like A24 does.

 

[elvislives]

Funny Greyhound is still top 5, was fun to work on tho!

 

[macsound1]

I agree - Apple TV+ is too specific in its writing.

But I think the real problem is the login process.
Because it’s linked to your Apple ID, it forces 2 factor or whatever else you have enabled. Which is annoying for spouses and kids.
I think if they completely separated the TV+ login from the Apple ID and reduced security from bank level to streaming service level, it would gain casual watching crowds (if they can find something to watch lol)

 

[Mac Fly (film)]

I dunno man, the gaming industry isn't exactly healthy either.

Wish Apple would get out of content altogether and focus on getting their **** straight with their core competencies.

Yeah, no I just meant if they really felt they needed content AAA gaming is one area where their platforms fall short: living room and Mac. But getting out of content completely wouldn't be a bad option either.

 

[Jack Burton]

Since we are all playing backseat film exec, I'll play!

Apple is caught in the middle of two slow deaths: the slow death of theaters, and the slow death of the traditional, EXPENSIVE movie star that can bring in enough ticket sales to pay for their bloated salaries. There are few of those actors left, and of those that are left, only some of their movies have that level of success.

Focus more on making series (which keep subscribers on Apple TV longer) and spend less on one off, expensive-as-hell movies. You'll still win awards if you make good content. But perhaps execs just want to meet Brad Pitt and George Clooney.

Oh, and reign in your budgets unless I can see that money on screen. I enjoy Severance, but holy smokes. That is TOO expensive even for a show I like.

 

[Mac Fly (film)]

Since we are all playing backseat film exec, I'll play!

Apple is caught in the middle of two slow deaths: the slow death of theaters, and the slow death of the traditional, EXPENSIVE movie star that can bring in enough ticket sales to pay for their bloated salaries. There are few of those actors left, and of those that are left, only some of their movies have that level of success.

Focus more on making series (which keep subscribers on Apple TV longer) and spend less on one off, expensive-as-hell movies. You'll still win awards if you make good content. But perhaps execs just want to meet Brad Pitt and George Clooney.

Oh, and reign in your budgets unless I can see that money on screen. I enjoy Severance, but holy smokes. That is TOO expensive even for a show I like.

I think the point here is there are many streaming services already out there and with catalogues far greater that anything Apple does that Apple would be best getting out of the business and narrowing their focus to their core competencies, which are software and hardware. Other apps have this covered.

 

[I7guy]

I think the point here is there are many streaming services already out there and with catalogues far greater that anything Apple does that Apple would be best getting out of the business and narrowing their focus to their core competencies, which are software and hardware. Other apps have this covered.

Apple isn’t getting out of the business, fyi.

 

[AbSoluTc]

A lot of those movies (and series) are missing something. Hard to put into words - you can see what they are supposed to convey, they are going through the motions, but you don't feel it. In the end, I guess, they are well executed except for the scripts - which is the most essential part. They feel a little tamed or held back or just don't work emotionally as they were obviously meant. Tldr, the are ok-ish, but not very good. As another poster said - 85% there. But it's the other 15% (which take just as much effort) that count.

This

I'm always left feeling mediocre. Like I didn't climax. They all have that same thing, they never peak.

 

[Jack Burton]

I think the point here is there are many streaming services already out there and with catalogues far greater that anything Apple does that Apple would be best getting out of the business and narrowing their focus to their core competencies, which are software and hardware. Other apps have this covered.

It's certainly a red ocean strategy. But I enjoy Apple shows and would rather not see them disappear. What does Apple really get out of this? Perhaps they are just spending their leftover cash for tax purposes. Apple TV can lose money if they can save on taxes, perhaps?

I saw people suggesting Apple get into gaming. That would be a bloody knife fight in an small, enclosed space.