EXCLUSIVE: Apple has pivoted on the Jon Watts-directed George Clooney & Brad Pitt starrer Wolfs, which makes its world premiere at the 81st Venice Film Festival. Apple Original Films has made a deal with Watts to write, direct and produce a sequel vehicle for Clooney and Pitt.
At the same time, Apple has changed its plan for Wolfs to have a wide theatrical release before it lands on Apple TV+. It instead will receive a limited theatrical release September 20, and then debut globally on Apple TV+ on Friday, September 27.
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Apple confirmed the release pivot, but sources said it does not signal a change in its hybrid strategy of a streaming service release preceded by a wide theatrical with P&A that was undertaken with Killers of the Flower Moon and Napoleon. Apple will stick to the wide theatrical release on its other film starring Pitt, the Formula One drama F1, which is directed by Joseph Kosinski and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer. The Instigators, the Doug Liman-directed heist caper film that stars Matt Damon and Casey Affleck, is in limited release this week before premiering Friday on Apple TV+.
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Apple will make decisions based on the marketplace; its recent release, Fly Me to the Moon, did not fare well theatrically despite having Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum in the starring roles. That film was released by Sony, which is also handling distribution on Wolfs.
Apple’s next big feature after that, the Steve McQueen-directed WWII drama Blitz, will get a limited theatrical release November 1. Sources said Wolfs is a crowd pleaser that has tested strongly, but this was felt the best strategy to ensure the biggest audience for a star driven film on the Apple TV+ streaming site.
In Wolfs, Clooney plays a professional fixer hired to cover up a high-profile crime. But when a second fixer (Pitt) shows up and the two lone wolves are forced to work together, they find their night spiraling out of control in ways neither expected. The cast also includes Amy Ryan, Austin Abrams, Poorna Jagannathan, Richard Kind and Zlatko Burić. The film is produced in partnership with Clooney’s Smokehouse Pictures and Pitt’s Plan B Entertainment.
Watts, who is making his first original film since his breakthrough Cop Car, after directing the Spider-Man Homecoming trilogy with Tom Holland and Zendaya, produces Wolfs with Dianne McGunigle; Clooney produces alongside Smokehouse partner Grant Heslov; and Pitt produces alongside Plan B partners Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner. Order of producers is Pitt, Dede Gardner, Kleiner, Heslov, Clooney, Watts and McGunigle. Michael Beugg is executive producer.
“Wolfs is the kind of big event movie that makes Apple TV+ such an exceptional home for the best in entertainment,” Apple Original Films head of features Matt Dentler said in a statement. “With George and Brad’s remarkable and engaging chemistry under Jon Watts’ extraordinary direction, ‘Wolfs’ blends all the great elements of comedy, action, and drama into a hugely entertaining movie that will leave audiences ready for what’s next. Releasing the movie to theaters before making it widely available to Apple TV+ customers brings the best of both worlds to audiences, and we’re excited to see fans embrace the movie as we start working with Jon on the sequel.”
Here is the Wolfs trailer: