Apple (AAPL 0.20%) just won the rights to movie star Tom Hanks’ World War II “Greyhound” film, which had originally been slated for a Father’s Day release in theaters but because of the COVID-19 pandemic will debut online.
IMAGE SOURCE: GETTY IMAGES.
The film, which CNBC reported Apple paid $70 million to get the rights for fifteen years, is a big win for the iPhone maker as it tries to take on Netflix (NFLX -0.48%) and Amazon (AMZN 0.01%) in the streaming video market. The film, which Hanks wrote and Sony (SONY -0.67%)produced, cost around $50 million to make, reported CNBC.
“Greyhound” is the latest movie to land on the list of originals that were scheduled to debut in movie theaters but switched to a digital format as theaters across the world remain shutdown to slow the spread of the virus. “Trolls World Tour,” “Scoob,” and “My Spy” are just a few examples. Sony is holding on to the Chinese rights to the film with the aim of releasing it in theaters, noted CNBC.
Winning the bidding war for the rights to “Greyhound” is a coup for Apple TV+, which has been largely focusing on original content since it launched in November. With production halted on sets, and with people watching more content at home, the tech stock has to look elsewhere to increase the amount it offers on its platform.
Just this week Bloomberg reported Apple has started buying off-the-air TV shows and older movies to give consumers more reasons to use its service over that of its rivals. As it stands Apple TV+ has about 30 original shows and movies on its platform. Netflix, on-the-other-hand, has thousands of pieces of content.
