[Apple] financed and produced the three-and-a-half-hour film [Killers of the Flower Moon], which is based on a book by David Grann about the 1920s murder of Osage Native American tribe members after oil was found on their land.
The movie, due out on Oct. 20, is the most expensive ever released by Apple’s four-year-old studio. The company’s spent between $200 million and $250 million on production, including at least $25 million for DiCaprio, plus millions more to market it.
Killers is also the first test of a new strategy with big stakes: Apple plans to spend $1 billion a year on movies that will appear in theaters for weeks before they’re available on its namesake streaming service. It will release Killers on more than 10,000 screens in October and, at least 45 days later, drop the title on Apple TV+.
Cupertino, California-based Apple will employ a similar strategy with Ridley Scott’s Napoleon in November and Matthew Vaughn’s spy thriller Argylle in February. It also committed to a theatrical release to win the rights to a Formula One movie starring Brad Pitt.
