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'Wolfs 2' Nixed at Apple TV+ Because Director 'No Longer Trusted' Apple

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While the action comedy film "Wolfs" recently became the most-viewed movie in Apple TV+ history, plans for a sequel have been canceled.

Apple-TV-Wolfs.jpg

In an interview shared by Deadline today, Wolfs director Jon Watts said he canceled the sequel because he "no longer trusted" Apple as a creative partner.

Watts told the publication that Apple made a last-minute decision to pivot away from widely releasing the movie in theaters, without discussing that decision with him in advance. He also said that Apple ignored his request to not mention the planned "Wolfs" sequel in its press release regarding the movie switching to a limited, one-week theatrical release before becoming available to stream on Apple TV+.

Apple announced that a "Wolfs" sequel was planned in an August press release. Apple's head of feature films Matt Dentler said the company was "excited to see fans embrace the movie as we start working with Jon on the sequel."

Here is the full quote from Watts explaining why the sequel is off the table:
"I showed Apple my final cut of Wolfs early this year," Watts told Deadline. "They were extremely enthusiastic about it and immediately commissioned me to start writing a sequel. But their last minute shift from a promised wide theatrical release to a streaming release was a total surprise and made without any explanation or discussion. I wasn't even told about it until less than a week before they announced it to the world. I was completely shocked and asked them to please not include the news that I was writing a sequel. They ignored my request and announced it in their press release anyway, seemingly to create a positive spin to their streaming pivot. And so I quietly returned the money they gave me for the sequel. I didn't want to talk about it because I was proud of the film and didn't want to generate any unnecessary negative press. I loved working with Brad and George (and Amy and Austin and Poorna and Zlatko) and would happily do it again. But the truth is that Apple didn’t cancel the Wolfs sequel, I did, because I no longer trusted them as a creative partner."
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This drama might be enough for an Apple TV+ movie of its own!

"Wolfs" stars Brad Pitt and George Clooney as two professional "fixers" who are assigned to cover up a high-profile crime. The two "lone wolves" are forced to work together, despite not wanting to, and comedy ensues. The movie also stars Amy Ryan.

The movie debuted in select theaters on September 20, and on Apple TV+ a week later.

Watts is best known for directing the "Spider-Man" films within the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Article Link: 'Wolfs 2' Nixed at Apple TV+ Because Director 'No Longer Trusted' Apple
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2024/11/23/apple-tv-plus-wolfs-sequel-canceled/
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Unfortunately some legacy creators enamored of the old Hollywood system are unable to recognize that the world is shifting away from theaters as many people have very high quality screens at home that provide a better overall viewing experience. The arrogance is sad to see.
 
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The director has a point. If you blindside the lead creative behind a movie on his own project, not once but repeatedly, I can see why he wouldn't want to work with Apple again.

To Apple's credit, they made the right decision: the film was a direct-to-streaming film despite its two A-listers. I enjoyed it at home but I wouldn't have watched it in theatres. Still, they should've communicated that to those who made the film expecting it to be a theatrical release.

If Apple gets a reputation for pulling these kinds of stunts, they'll find themselves without talented filmmakers soon enough.
 
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Apple is being typical Apple here. Bad communication to the people they’re working with and changing the rules as they see fit.

I haven’t seen this movie (I already cancelled Apple TV+ after they reversed their course on giving Jon Stewart full editorial control). But I think Apple could definitely do better here. There are fantastic shows and movies, but if you pull stunts like this one, nobody is gonna trust you to make great content.
 
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It was a smart move by Apple. The film is a low-energy buddy movie where the two lead actors p plainly have no chemistry. It would have bombed in the theaters. Pulling it didn’t merely save the money. It caused a controversial story that got people to watch. Any sequel would not benefit from the controversy.The director should be thanking Apple.
 
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Orange Bat said:
Alienating a major streaming service while Hollywood collapses is a career plan, I guess.
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The only thing you can call Apple TV+ a "major" is a major flop. It stands out as the least interesting of the streaming services on the market. They are all struggling to turn a profit, they are all grasping at anything, but Apple TV+ is perhaps the worst right now.
 
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I get the sense that Apple, the people they put in charge of Apple TV, or somewhere in the middle, is doing a very bad job. I’ve heard a few bad stories about working with them. Maybe the top executives at Apple are either micromanaging the creative team, or not making sure they’re doing things correctly. My guess is it’s some kind of mismanagement somewhere.
 
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rumorphobe said:
Unfortunately some legacy creators enamored of the old Hollywood system are unable to recognize that the world is shifting away from theaters as many people have very high quality screens at home that provide a better overall viewing experience. The arrogance is sad to see.
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Lol it's quite funny you see the arrogance that way. I would say the arrogance comes from not allowing people who DON'T have an expensive very high quality setup at home go to a theatre and watch a good movie in good conditions for a few bucks.
 
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gumbyhw said:
It was a smart move by Apple. The film is a low-energy buddy movie where the two lead actors p plainly have no chemistry. It would have bombed in the theaters. Pulling it didn’t merely save the money. It caused a controversial story that got people to watch. Any sequel would not benefit from the controversy.The director should be thanking Apple.
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Regardless of the merits of the film itself (this is the first time I’ve heard of it, so I have no particular opinion about it), to think that the director should thank Apple is absurd.

Apple’s behaviour towards him shows a complete lack of respect. Disagreements would be one thing, but disregarding his views so completely in a press release without even having the decency to discuss the issue with him first is incredibly bad form. Failing to communicate with him on other occasions only adds compounds the disrespect.

It might not be a smart move for the director to speak out about all this publicly, but if these events happened as described then I don’t blame the director for thinking poorly enough of Apple to leave. There’s certainly no reason for thanks.
 
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c84216 said:
Hollywood is cutthroat with no love for rogue creatives.

No one is going to give this guy money if he’s going to turn around and publicly badmouth a studio.

This is his one way ticket to never make a movie again. He should have kept quiet.
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Related
Apple will make decisions based on the marketplace; its recent release, Fly Me to the Moon, did not fare well theatrically despite having Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum in the starring roles. That film was released by Sony, which is also handling distribution on Wolfs.
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Apple’s next big feature after that, the Steve McQueen-directed WWII drama Blitz, will get a limited theatrical release November 1. Sources said Wolfs is a crowd pleaser that has tested strongly, but this was felt the best strategy to ensure the biggest audience for a star driven film on the Apple TV+ streaming site.
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Is Apple Studios LLC management overriding previously agreed marketing strategy, just to drive up Apple TV+ presence? :eek:
 
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MacRumors said:


While the action comedy film "Wolfs" recently became the most-viewed movie in Apple TV+ history, plans for a sequel have been canceled.

Apple-TV-Wolfs.jpg

In an interview shared by Deadline today, Wolfs director Jon Watts said he canceled the sequel because he "no longer trusted" Apple as a creative partner. He told the publication that Apple made a last-minute decision to pivot away from widely releasing the movie in theaters without discussing that decision with him in advance.

Watts also said that Apple ignored his request to not mention the planned "Wolfs" sequel in its press release regarding the switch to a limited, one-week theatrical release for the movie ahead of its Apple TV+ streaming debut. "Wolfs" debuted in select theaters on September 20, and it started streaming on Apple TV+ on September 27.

Apple announced that a "Wolfs" sequel was planned in an August press release. Apple's head of feature films Matt Dentler said the company was "excited to see fans embrace the movie as we start working with Jon on the sequel."

Here is the full quote from Watts explaining why the sequel is off the table:This drama might be enough for an Apple TV+ movie of its own!

"Wolfs" stars Brad Pitt and George Clooney as two professional "fixers" who are assigned to cover up a high-profile crime. The two "lone wolves" are forced to work together, despite not wanting to, and comedy ensues. The movie also stars Amy Ryan.

Watts is best known for directing the "Spider-Man" films within the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Article Link: 'Wolfs 2' Nixed at Apple TV+ Because Director 'No Longer Trusted' Apple
Click to expand...
This movie wasn't that good, I understand why apple brought it to streaming and didn't give it a wide release
 
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