Apple may be following Netflix when it comes to streaming, but the tech giant is taking its own approach when it comes to releasing its movies.
Apple plans on releasing its movies weeks before they become available on its upcoming streaming service, Apple TV+, according to The Wall Street Journal on Friday.
Apple did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.
This would set it apart from Netflix, which has tended to ask theaters to release its movies on the same day they hit its service. The streaming heavyweight — with more than 150 million subscribers globally — has made exceptions to this rule, however; Martin Scorsese’s “The Irishman” will be in select theaters for weeks before it comes to Netflix on Nov. 27, for instance.
Apple’s theater plan is being led by Zack Van Amburg and Jamie Erlicht, the former Sony execs now spearheading its content push, per the Wall Street Journal. They’ve also added Greg Foster, the former head of entertainment at IMAX, as a consultant, the report says. The company is “eyeing” a mid-2020 release for its first theatrical release, Sofia Coppola’s “On the Rocks,” starring Rashida Jones, according to the WSJ.
Up until now, Apple has focused on TV series to fill its new $5 per month service. The service plans to debut on Nov. 1 with one documentary film and eight original series, including “The Morning Show,” a glitzy drama starring Reese Witherspoon, Steve Carrell and Jennifer Aniston in her return to TV. Cook also offered a preview of “See,” Jason Momoa’s new show set in a world where the few remaining humans to survive a deadly virus are left blind.