Apple Hinges Theatrical Business On F1

Apple is pulling out all the stops to make sure this weekend’s release of its biggest blockbuster yet, F1, is a thundering success.

The Big Picture: How F1 performs at the box office could be the make-or-break moment for the tech giant’s theatrical ambitions, which have been set back by a series of costly flops. Losing Apple as a big-screen player would be a blow to an already-contracting marketplace.

Behind the Scenes: Apple ponied up $250 million to make F1 after the success of director Joseph Kosinski’s last movie, the $1.5 billion-grossing Top Gun: Maverick.

Can the movie become the tech giant’s first box-office hit?

• CEO Tim Cook has joined producer and racing superstar Lewis Hamilton in interviews promoting the film. He only does that for the company’s most important product launches.
• Apple started its annual Worldwide Developers Conference with a promo video for the film and showcased a cutting-edge “haptic” trailer for iPhones that made viewers feel like they were at the wheel of a racecar.
• The company is even promoting discounted tickets for the movie within its Wallet app — a move somewhat reminiscent of when it put U2’s Songs of Innocence into iTunes libraries for free. The move has been similarly controversial.

Last Lap: Both Hollywood and Wall Street analysts have long wondered why Apple is pushing ahead so aggressively to make it on the big screen. Apple leadership maintains that it simply enjoys the business and believes it can release high-quality movies with the same success it achieves with high-quality devices — an overarching ethos of top-shelf curation.

Despite pre-release tracking suggesting the movie mostly appeals to older men, F1’s cultural ascendancy and the draw of IMAX could fuel interest across all age groups if word of mouth takes off.

Prediction: If Warner Bros. (which is technically marketing and distributing F1) can’t get the movie off the starting line, Apple may consider launching its own distribution arm like Amazon.