The streaming wars are fierce right now as studios fight to bring the best entertainment to those who splurged on a subscription during lockdown. One advantage in this scenario is money and Apple hasn’t been afraid to spend some of theirs.
In a recent streaming deal, Apple reportedly forked out a whopping US$200 million to secure a hot new film exclusively for Apple TV+.
What is Apple TV+’s new film?
The film in question is called Argylle.
It comes from Kingsman and Kick-Ass director Matthew Vaughn and has a cast stacked to the brim with stars.
Check out this line-up: Henry Cavill, Sam Rockwell, Bryce Dallas Howard, Bryan Cranston, Catherine O’Hara, John Cena and Samuel L. Jackson.
Global singing superstar Dua Lipa is also set to make her acting debut in the film and will provide music for the score. Yeah, no wonder it cost a small fortune.
The exact cost of the deal hasn’t been confirmed but according to Deadline, it was very close to its asking price of $200 million.
Argylle is based on the soon-to-be-released spy novel of the same name by Ellie Conway. The book is set to launch in 2022 and the only plot details are that it will follow the world’s greatest spy as he is caught up in a globe-trotting adventure.
“I’m thrilled to team with Apple and bring the most compelling spy thriller I’ve ever read to the only streaming service that can create a franchise of this scale and quality for global audiences to experience,” Vaughn said of the deal.
The movie is set to begin shooting this August in Europe, so we won’t see it for a while yet.
There are hopes that the film will spawn a franchise after the initial picture deal.
This isn’t Apple’s first major streaming deal
Apple TV+ is still a fairly new streaming service in the mix and relies heavily on original content rather than libraries from other studios.
While it’s had successes with the likes of Morning Wars and Ted Lasso, the content rollout on Apple TV+ has still been rather sparse, which certainly wasn’t helped by the pandemic.
This has caused Apple to bid fiercely to secure exclusive content for its streaming service. Earlier in the year, the company snapped up Sundance Festival darling CODA for $32 million.
Apple’s also been hard at work making deals with other Hollywood creators, including Martin Scorsese, and it bought up Matthew Vaughn’s other new film Tetris: The Movie.
If you’re keen on Argylle and other content on Apple TV+, PS5 owners can get six months of the streaming service for free right now or you can still land yourself three months free with any new Apple device.