What you need to know
- Apple TV+ and Nike have signed a deal that will see the pair work on sports movies.
- A first-look deal has been signed with Nike's Apple Original Films.
Apple TV+ and Nike have reportedly teamed up to create new movies based on sports. The first-look deal is between Apple Original Films and Nike's production label Waffle Iron Entertainment. Makeready will also have input in future projects.
Apple and Nike have a long relationship and you can currently buy a Nike-branded Apple Watch Series 7 and associated bands at any Apple Store. This new deal takes things further and will see new sports-oriented movies land on Apple TV+ in the future, Deadline reports.
In the linkup between two giant brands, Apple will finance and distribute the projects, and Nike's dedicated production label Waffle Iron's Justin Biskin will produce along with Makeready's Brad Weston and Collin Creighton. Weston has shepherded sports films that include the Oscar-nominated The Fighter when he headed production at Paramount Pictures.
This isn't the first time that the streamer has dipped its toe into the world of sports, of course. The Apple TV+ show Greatness Code sees various sportspeople talk about how they got to the top of their field while the basketball docuseries They Call Me Magic tells the story of Magic Johnson. The deal with Nike's Waffle Iron Entertainment is set to focus on fiction, though, rather than real-life stories.
Apple TV+ recently also confirmed a deal for a new movie based in the world of F1 motor racing that will include Brad Pitt. Racing driver Lewis Hamilton is also involved in the project.
Apple Studios has landed the sought-after Formula One racing feature from Joseph Kosinski, Plan B Entertainment and Jerry Bruckheimer Films, starring Academy Award winner Brad Pitt ("Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood"). Kosinski ("Top Gun: Maverick") is set to direct, and will produce the feature alongside seven-time Formula One champion Sir Lewis Hamilton, Plan B Entertainment ("World War Z"), Jerry Bruckheimer and Chad Oman of Jerry Bruckheimer Films ("Top Gun: Maverick," "Pirates of the Caribbean" franchise).
Pitt will star "as a driver who comes out of retirement to compete alongside a rookie driver against the titans of the sport." There is currently no release window being shared, but we do know that you'll need an Apple TV+ subscription to watch the movie. However, it's also possible a short theatrical release will be used as a way to get the movie into awards recognition territory as was the case with the hugely successful CODA.
If you want to enjoy Apple TV+ in style, be sure to check out our list of the best Apple TV deals on the market today.
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