Hot on the heels of its Oscars success with CODA, Apple is again looking to make waves with its Apple TV Plus streaming service with a big budget signing sure to turn heads.
It has reportedly paid $100 million to sign up Project Artemis, a new sci-fi film focussed on the space race, set to be directed and executive-produced by Ozark and Arrested Development star Jason Bateman.
That big-ticket price tag comes with two Hollywood heavyweights attached, according to Deadline – Captain America and the Black Widow themselves, Chris Evans and Scarlett Johansson respectively. It’ll be the first time the pair have shared a screen since Avengers: Endgame, the colossal conclusion to a generation’s worth of Marvel Cinematic Universe movies.
Free from their Disney / Marvel contracts, old pals Johansson and Evans have been looking for a project to work on together for a number of years – the pair had originally been lined up to star in another big Apple TV Plus event, Ghosted, but scheduling conflicts meant Johansson had to release the role to No Time To Die’s Ana de Armas.
Apple to shake streaming to its core?
With pockets as deep as Apple’s, what would bankrupt smaller companies is a drop in the ocean for the $2.8 trillion iPhone maker. But it’s pumping cash into its Apple TV Plus service at the moment that would make even the most loyal Netflix subscriber take notice.
Its upcoming slate is a star studded affair: just for starters this year we can expect to see Martin Scorsese’s Killer’s Of The Flower Moon and Taron Egerton’s take on the legal battle surrounding eternal gaming puzzle hit Tetris join the service.
Beyond that, Joker’s Joaquin Phoenix stars as the titular Napoleon in director Ridley Scott’s next grand epic – a notable step change for Scott who lamented seeing his under-loved The Last Duel ‘relegated’ to a speedy Disney Plus release last year.
There’s also Matthew Vaughn’s spy thriller Argylle starring Henry Cavill and pop sensation Dua Lipa (which reportedly set Apple back $200m) and an as-yet untitled F1 racing flick with Brad Pitt in a leading role.
And that’s just the films, let alone TV projects in the pipeline. As it stands, that £4.99 / $4.99 a month subscription price tag is looking increasingly worthwhile.
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