Apple is continuing to add to its Apple TV+ streaming content library, as it has made a deal with Skydance Media, a Paramount Pictures partner.
Variety reports that the agreement closely resembles a “put deal.”
The agreement closely resembles a “put deal,” according to sources, an increasingly rare Hollywood arrangement wherein a distributor is obligated to release movies its partner chooses. Jason Blum’s Blumhouse, Jordan Peele’s Monkeypaw and Arnon Milchan’s New Regency are a few of the players that have commanded similar pacts.
The terms of the deal say Skydance will produce at least two films each year with a $125 million budget. In addition, it may earn up to $25 million per picture. However, the Skydance films might not be theatrical releases.
Creative executives at Apple – including the leads on the Skydance deal Jamie Erlicht and Zack Van Amburg and features head Matt Dentler – will work to identify which films from Ellison’s slate will qualify under the two-picture minimum. Sweetening the pot is the fact that, in essence, Skydance will retain copyright to all intellectual property it produces at Apple. Skydance is still free to develop film projects with other distributors. Both parties will share downstream revenue, and the arrangement leaves room for additional profit participation for Apple, Variety’s sources said.
