Apple’s Box Office Failures Are Taking Their Toll: The New Brad Pitt and George Clooney Movie, Acclaimed in Venice, Will Barely Make It Into Theaters

Wolfs is arguably the most commercial movie Apple has ever released. However, it also marks a bitter end to the company’s intentions to compete with the industry giants. After consecutive financial failures, Apple has pulled the plug on its blockbusters. Wolfs will make it to theaters but in an almost symbolic way.

Brad Pitt and George Clooney are together again. Clooney plays a professional fixer hired to cover up a high-level crime. But when a second fixer (Pitt) appears, the two lone wolves are forced to work together. Following the success of Spider-Man: No Way Home, Jon Watts directs the engaging reunion of the two Ocean’s Eleven stars. The movie has the makings of a success, but it will barely make it into theaters.

Ovation in Venice. Wolfs was well-received at the Venice Film Festival, where the audience gave the movie cast a five-minute standing ovation. It doesn’t seem like much since Angelina Jolie received an eight-minute ovation the day before. Apparently, the film festival organizers wanted to clear the hall immediately so that actors could attend to the hordes of fans crowding the red carpet. They also wanted to make sure the delays, already considerable that day, wouldn’t pile up.

One week in theaters. Apple was going to release Wolfs in style, as it should with stars of this caliber. Then, it planned to launch the movie exclusively on Apple TV+, following the path of productions like Napoleon or Argyle. On Aug. 7, however, the company announced that it would release the film in select theaters and on a limited basis on Sept. 20. Seven days later, on Sep. 27, Apple TV+ users will be able to watch it on that platform.

A few more movies... In February of this year, the Apple-produced Argyle grossed just $18 million in the U.S., plus another $17.3 million in international markets. Argyle cost $200 million, not counting marketing and advertising. It wasn’t Apple’s first attempt at conquering theaters: Killers of the Moon, Martin Scorsese’s triumphant return to directing, won many of the season’s awards and nominations (it had ten Oscar nominations). Ridley Scott’s Napoleon, like Argyle, had an uneven critical reception, but critics talked about it a lot.

... and a few more failures. Neither of the two movies did exceptionally well at the box office. Scorsese and Scott’s films cost around $200 million, as did Argyle, but Killers of the Moon only made $15.6 million. Napoleon cost over $200 million, and Apple expected a profit of nearly $500 million. Still, earnings didn’t even come close to that number.

The cuts are coming. Wolfs may be the end of an era for Apple. As Bloomberg reported, its limited theatrical release is somewhat symbolic. It will precede an almost guaranteed budget cut and ambition in its films. We’ll unlikely see casts like those in Wolfs in productions that go straight to streaming. Clooney and Pitt have even claimed that they returned part of their salary when they found out that Apple would effectively release the film on its platform. Given Apple’s ambition and the impeccable technical quality of its productions, it's a real shame.

Image | Apple

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