The anticipation forSpike Lee’s upcoming film,Highest 2 Lowest, reached a fever pitch when the teaser trailer hit the internet earlier this month on May 5. The 52-second promo unsurprisingly went viral on various social media platforms, as film fans everywhere have been eager to see Lee’s reunion withDenzel Washingtonin this neo-noir reimagining ofAkira Kurosawa’sHigh and Lowfor some time now. Due to the all-star talent attached and the movie existing within the always-popular crime-thriller genre,Lee’s latest has had “hit” written all over it since it was announced.
That is why industry prognosticators and everyday moviegoers were left feeling shocked and disheartened when the trailer release also came with the news that the film wouldonly receive a brief two-week run in theatersstarting on August 22, before being moved toApple TV+on September 5. Unfortunately, moves like this have become the norm for the streamer, which has been pulling back from the theatrical release model over the last year. With Apple willing to potentially leave hoards of money on the table for a film starring someone as bankable as Washington, though, it’s fair to wonder if they are trending towards abandoning the theatrical experience altogether.
Apple Is Shifting Away From the Theatrical Model
Reportsthat Apple was looking to tweak its release strategies first started showing up in August 2024, when it was announced that theBrad PittandGeorge Clooney-led action comedy originally intended for wide release,Wolfs, was only going to receive a limited theatrical run. Seemingly, the company started growing wary around the end of 2023 and beginning of 2024 when some of their films, such asKillers of the Flower Moon,Napoleon, andArgylle,underperformed expectations at the box office. According toBloomberg, the tech giant scrapped its plans to spend $1 billion annually on big-budget films for theaters and wasshifting away from prioritizing theatrical titles. Reportedly, the decision came as part of a larger reset for the studio, which will theoretically see them only taking one or two big theatrical swings per year, and marketing the rest of their output as streaming films.
This new direction for Apple is a stark change from what the studio originally set out to be. Initially, they attracted stars like Pitt and Clooney by promising “robust theatrical releases” for films likeWolfs. In reference to the 2021 bidding war for the rights to the project that Apple won, Clooneysaid, “Brad and I made the deal to do that movie where we gave money back to make sure that we had a theatrical release.” At the time the decision was made, the truncation ofWolfs' theatrical window felt like the company admitting that they didn’t have much faith in the film.Highest 2 Lowestfeels different, though.
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After all, this is a commercially viable film that comes fromone of the most successful and acclaimed directors in the industry. Not to mention, it’s gearing up for a world premiere atCannes. Quite frankly, not allowing Lee’s upcoming movie to play in theaters for an extended period of timefeels like throwing money away, especially due to the fact that Washington has proven to still be a reliable box office draw. While he hasn’t appeared in a ton of movies in the 2020s, films likeGladiator 2andThe Equalizer 3brought in a great deal of money. And, throughout the 2010s, he appeared in several commercially successful films. With his star power, it’s easy to imagineHighest 2 Lowestcrossing the $100 million mark at the worldwide box office even if it doesn’t garner rave reviews from critics. The only rational explanation for Apple’s decision is that they have simply decided there isn’t enough room in their current plans for multiple widely released films in a given year. As of now, Pitt’s forthcoming sports drama,F1, is the only big 2025 theatrical release the studio has planned.
Modern Studios Are Too Averse to Risk and Too Knee-Jerk in Their Thinking
Apple’s decision-making feels somewhat reminiscent ofTed Sarandos’ recent, misguided commentsabout the state of the theatrical model. At the Time100 Summit, the Netflix CEO called the movie-theater experience “outdated,” while insisting that consumer trends support the idea that people prefer to watch movies at home. Comments like these, and Apple’s step back from substantial theatrical release windows, feel incredibly shortsighted.
Nowadays, manystudio decision-makers seem to be too prone to knee-jerk thinkingand are far too easily swayed from one strategy to the next. One day, Apple is promising the team behindWolfsa massive theatrical release. The next, they’re committing to just one true theatrical film per year. This is absurd becausethe nature of the film business is that it tends to be a little volatile. It’s only been made more unpredictable due to thechaos of the immediate post-pandemic years, in which the industry has been recovering from the nationwide theater shutdowns of 2020 and 2021. The correct response isn’t to panic at every bump in the road, though. Studios need to learn to stay the course and trust that audiences will show up to the theater if they’re given good movies. It’ll be beneficial for everyone, as there’s more money for them to make with a box office sensation rather than a streaming hit.
