Apple seals movie deal with media mogul Peter Chernin
[LOS ANGELES] Apple has signed a deal to release new movies from North Road, the entertainment studio led by media mogul Peter Chernin, indicating the technology giant's growing ambitions in Hollywood.
The agreement will give Apple first crack at new projects being developed by Chernin, whose company has been aligned with Netflix for the last five years. North Road's Chernin Entertainment can still produce films it's already developing for other studios and has two movies that will soon come out on Netflix: Apex, an action thriller starring Charlize Theron, and 11817, a horror project starring Wagner Moura and Greta Lee.
'We have had a great experience working with Apple on the series side, where they've been smart, daring, and always supportive – we're excited to build on that success by making movies together,' said Chernin, who has already produced TV shows See and Truth Be Told for Apple. Their next collaboration, the TV series Chief of War starring Jason Momoa, debuts in August.
Apple, a relative newcomer in Hollywood, has been building out its film business to bolster its Apple TV+ streaming service. While the tech giant has released a handful of hit original TV shows, including Ted Lasso and Severance, it has yet to replicate that success on the feature film side. It will release one of its most ambitious films yet, F1 starring Brad Pitt, on Jun 27.
Chernin is one of the most respected figures in the media world as an investor and producer. He spent years as an executive working with Rupert Murdoch at News and Fox before setting up his own company.
His investment firm, the Chernin Group, has taken stakes in companies such as Barstool Sports and the anime streaming service Crunchyroll, while his entertainment company produces films and TV shows. Chernin folded all his entertainment assets, including the production outfit behind the hit reality TV shows Love is Blind and The Ultimatum, into North Road. The company is producing several dozen projects this year – a mix of documentaries, feature films, reality shows and scripted series.
Chernin started off producing many films and TV shows for Fox, including Ford v Ferrari, recent instalments of the Planet of the Apes franchise and the sitcom New Girl. In 2020, Chernin signed a deal to make movies for Netflix, producing the Fear Street franchise as well as Back in Action, a comedy starring Jamie Foxx and Cameron Diaz. Yet as that agreement came to a close, Chernin shopped for a new home.
Netflix has scaled back the number of movies it plans to make, though it still churns out more than almost anyone in Hollywood, while Apple is ramping up. The iPhone maker has released a few features this year, including an action movie called The Gorge and the heist film Fountain of Youth. Those titles were released directly onto the streaming service Apple TV+, while the Formula 1 movie will be released in movie theatres worldwide before appearing online. BLOOMBERG
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Business Times
4 hours ago
- Business Times
Apple seals movie deal with media mogul Peter Chernin
[LOS ANGELES] Apple has signed a deal to release new movies from North Road, the entertainment studio led by media mogul Peter Chernin, indicating the technology giant's growing ambitions in Hollywood. The agreement will give Apple first crack at new projects being developed by Chernin, whose company has been aligned with Netflix for the last five years. North Road's Chernin Entertainment can still produce films it's already developing for other studios and has two movies that will soon come out on Netflix: Apex, an action thriller starring Charlize Theron, and 11817, a horror project starring Wagner Moura and Greta Lee. 'We have had a great experience working with Apple on the series side, where they've been smart, daring, and always supportive – we're excited to build on that success by making movies together,' said Chernin, who has already produced TV shows See and Truth Be Told for Apple. Their next collaboration, the TV series Chief of War starring Jason Momoa, debuts in August. Apple, a relative newcomer in Hollywood, has been building out its film business to bolster its Apple TV+ streaming service. While the tech giant has released a handful of hit original TV shows, including Ted Lasso and Severance, it has yet to replicate that success on the feature film side. It will release one of its most ambitious films yet, F1 starring Brad Pitt, on Jun 27. Chernin is one of the most respected figures in the media world as an investor and producer. He spent years as an executive working with Rupert Murdoch at News and Fox before setting up his own company. His investment firm, the Chernin Group, has taken stakes in companies such as Barstool Sports and the anime streaming service Crunchyroll, while his entertainment company produces films and TV shows. Chernin folded all his entertainment assets, including the production outfit behind the hit reality TV shows Love is Blind and The Ultimatum, into North Road. The company is producing several dozen projects this year – a mix of documentaries, feature films, reality shows and scripted series. Chernin started off producing many films and TV shows for Fox, including Ford v Ferrari, recent instalments of the Planet of the Apes franchise and the sitcom New Girl. In 2020, Chernin signed a deal to make movies for Netflix, producing the Fear Street franchise as well as Back in Action, a comedy starring Jamie Foxx and Cameron Diaz. Yet as that agreement came to a close, Chernin shopped for a new home. Netflix has scaled back the number of movies it plans to make, though it still churns out more than almost anyone in Hollywood, while Apple is ramping up. The iPhone maker has released a few features this year, including an action movie called The Gorge and the heist film Fountain of Youth. Those titles were released directly onto the streaming service Apple TV+, while the Formula 1 movie will be released in movie theatres worldwide before appearing online. BLOOMBERG
Business Times
a day ago
- Business Times
Apple sued by shareholders for allegedly overstating AI progress
[NEW YORK] Apple was sued on Friday (Jun 20) by shareholders in a proposed securities fraud class action that accused it of downplaying how long it needed to integrate advanced artificial intelligence (AI) into its Siri voice assistant, hurting iPhone sales and its stock price. The complaint covers shareholders who suffered potentially hundreds of billions of US dollars of losses in the year ending Jun 9, when Apple introduced several features and aesthetic improvements for its products but kept AI changes modest. Apple did not immediately respond to requests for comment. CEO Tim Cook, chief financial officer Kevan Parekh and former CFO Luca Maestri are also defendants in the lawsuit filed in San Francisco federal court. Shareholders led by Eric Tucker said that at its June 2024 Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple led them to believe AI would be a key driver of iPhone 16 devices, when it launched Apple Intelligence to make Siri more powerful and user-friendly. But they said the Cupertino, California-based company lacked a functional prototype of AI-based Siri features, and could not reasonably believe the features would ever be ready for iPhone 16s. Shareholders said the truth began to emerge on Mar 7 when Apple delayed some Siri upgrades to 2026, and continued to this year's Worldwide Developers Conference on Jun 9 when Apple's assessment of its AI progress disappointed analysts. Apple shares have lost nearly one-fourth of their value since their Dec 26, 2024 record high, wiping out approximately US$900 billion of market value. REUTERS
Business Times
2 days ago
- Business Times
Apple executives have held internal talks about buying AI startup Perplexity
[SAN FRANCISCO] Apple executives have held internal discussions about potentially bidding for artificial intelligence (AI) startup Perplexity AI, seeking to address the need for more AI talent and technology. Adrian Perica, the company's head of mergers and acquisitions, has weighed the idea with services chief Eddy Cue and top AI decision-makers, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The discussions are at an early stage and may not lead to an offer, said the sources, who asked not to be identified because the matter is private. Such a deal would help Apple develop an AI-based search engine, part of efforts to cope with the potential loss of a longstanding arrangement with Google. That partnership, which involves making Google the default browser on devices, generates roughly US$20 billion a year for Apple, and is now under threat from US antitrust enforcers. To date, Apple executives have not discussed a bid with Perplexity management. Bloomberg News reported earlier Friday that Meta Platforms tried to buy Perplexity earlier this year. 'We have no knowledge of any current or future M&A discussions involving Perplexity,' the AI startup said. Apple declined to comment. The Perplexity service provides real-time answers to questions using the latest information from the web. If Apple were to engage in talks to buy the startup, such a move likely would not happen until a decision is made in the Google antitrust trial. That's when Apple would know whether its lucrative Google agreement may have to be unwound. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up Google shares reversed gains and fell nearly 1 per cent in late trading after Bloomberg reported on Apple's Perplexity discussions. Perplexity recently completed an investment round that valued it at US$14 billion. A deal anywhere near that level would be the largest acquisition in Apple's history. The company's biggest transaction until now remains the US$3 billion takeover of Beats in 2014 – though Apple made more recent billion US dollar deals for Intel Corp.'s modem unit and a stake in Chinese ride-sharing company DiDi. After Meta failed to reach an agreement with Perplexity, it bought a 49 per cent slice of Scale AI for US$14.3 billion. That deal is part of Meta's attempts to create a so-called superintelligence AI team, which will now include Scale co-founder Alexandr Wang. Perica and Cue, who both report to Apple chief executive officer Tim Cook, are leading the AI acquisition and recruiting efforts. The hunt for talent is part of a bid to catch up in generative AI. The company was slow to deliver its Apple Intelligence platform and still lags rivals in key features. A revamped Siri was delayed indefinitely this year, with the company now aiming to have it ready by next spring. Apple unveiled a relatively meagre slate of new AI enhancements at its Worldwide Developers Conference earlier this month. The latest features include live translation capabilities and a deeper partnership with OpenAI on ChatGPT-based image generation. Buying Perplexity would give Apple an infusion of AI talent, a known brand in the AI space and a consumer product. A deal could also potentially assist with future recruiting efforts. Apple has also discussed an alternative plan: teaming up with Perplexity instead of buying it. A partnership would involve adding Perplexity as an AI search engine option in Apple's Safari web browser and integrating it into Siri. Apple has met multiple times in recent months with Perplexity, and its AI team has been actively evaluating the technology – a sign that it's at least considering a close relationship with the company. One major snag in the process could be an in-the-works deal between Perplexity and Samsung Electronics, which plans to announce a deep partnership with the startup. Samsung is Apple's biggest competitor in smartphones, and AI features have become a critical new arena for the two rivals. In its statement, Perplexity said it should not be surprising that top manufacturers want to offer the 'best search and more accurate AI for their users.' 'That's Perplexity,' the startup said. Cue, whose department includes Apple's streaming services and iCloud, previously expressed an interest in Perplexity. While testifying at the Google antitrust trial in May, he told jurors that the industry is shifting away from standard Internet searches to AI tools. He outlined a scenario in which AI search engines could quickly supersede Google's current offering. 'We have been pretty impressed with what Perplexity has done, so we have started some discussions with them about what they are doing,' he said. BLOOMBERG
