They've done fairly well with TV. They can do prestige TV without the insane budget. Old HBO is dead, and there's room for Apple to fill that role if corporate PR doesn't meddle too much.
Is Apple TV+ at all necessary? Always seemed to me a lousy idea for Apple to pursue. There are plenty of good options that have already watered down all the efforts. The great unbundling has resulted in the great re-bundling. Apple should focus on the hardware & software needed to deliver and consume the content.
Edit: I guess this pullback is only from releasing theatrically to streaming.
ATV+ TV shows are on par with HBO in its greatest days, even the worst ones are good in their genre and the good ones are _excellent_.
Their movies though... Not so much. It seems that producing a high quality movie is a different skill set to doing the same in a serial format.
They want it all.
Does anyone actually want to go to the movie theater anymore? I don't. Not since covid anyway. Oppenheimer was the first and only movie I've seen on the big screen since covid. And still it was almost like sitting in coach class on an airplane for two hours.
I can make tastier popcorn at home than what I get at the theatre, the sodas are cheaper, and I don't have to share an armrest with some stranger sitting next to me.
I would really like a 90-100" 8k screen for my living room, but I'm not gonna pay $10k for that.
I do, but only for very specific movies. And _only_ if I can get the perfect spot in the theatre, I'm not paying 25€ for a ticket and sit in a sub-optimal spot just to fight the FOMO of not seeing something on opening week.
I also mostly go alone.
Family movies in the movies are dead though, they all come out on streaming so fast that there's no point in dropping 100€ for the whole family to go see Inside Out 2, we can just wait for a few months and either buy it in 4k from Apple for under 20€ or stream it for "free" from Disney+.
Either way we can pause it as we like, have any snacks or food we like and other people's kids aren't running around and making a racket.
I do - I guess for the brief exclusivity period you see the movie as it is released
I don't. Accessibility is often an issue, and my anxiety gets worse in crowds. People are loud, rude and noisy.
I have a 55" at home that I sit about 6 ft away from for the cinematic experience. Ditto on food. It's better than anything I can get at the movie theater.