Sony and Columbia Pictures will continue their partnership with Apple Original Films in 2024, adding two films produced by the Silicon Valley streamer to their 2024 slate.
Sony/Columbia will release an untitled film set during the 1960s space race starring Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum on July 12. The studio has also set “Wolfs,” a thriller starring George Clooney and Brad Pitt and directed by “Spider-Man: No Way Home” filmmaker Jon Watts for release on Sept. 20.
The pair of upcoming films continues a theatrical distribution partnership between Sony and Apple that began with last month’s Ridley Scott’s “Napoleon,” a $200 million-plus historical epic whose budget was footed entirely by Apple and grossed $189 million at the global box office.
By normal standards, that amounts to a box office flop, but Apple’s high-spending, partnership-filled strategy is looking for profits later down the line. Apple is hoping that a theatrical release for its films will increase awareness and interest among audiences to see those films later on Apple TV+, increasing its subscriber count.
Sony, meanwhile, gets new additions to its theatrical slate in exchange for a distribution fee rather than having to shoulder any production costs. Apple has also formed partnerships with other studios on films like Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon,” released theatrically by Paramount, and Matthew Vaughn’s “Argylle,” which will be released by Universal early next year.
The Johansson/Tatum film, previously known by the working title “Project Artemis,” is filling a summer slot that was previously held by Sony’s “Venom 3” before it was delayed to November after the conclusion of the SAG-AFTRA strike.
“Wolfs” will fill an early autumn slot and will hit theaters alongside Universal/DreamWorks’ family animated film “The Wild Robot.” It will share theater space with other franchise releases hitting September like Warner Bros.’ “Beetlejuice 2,” Paramount’s “Transformers One” and Lionsgate’s “Saw XI.”
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