I wasn’t the biggest fan of Apple TV+’s movie output in 2023, nor were most critics kind to the streamer’s overlong and plodding epics like Napoleon and Killers of the Flower Moon. If you add the box office bomb Argylle, Apple’s extremely weird and mostly dumb star-studded spy movie that was released earlier this year, the company spent a reported $700 million to make and market these three films — which earned a combined $466 million globally through March.
Having said all that, hope springs eternal.
Apple TV+ has no fewer than three big new movies lined up over the next couple of months that combine top-tier directors, A-list talent, and interesting stories to try and reverse the conventional wisdom about the streamer’s box office fortunes. Apple continues to knock it out of the park with shows like Severance and For All Mankind, and I have every reason to believe these three upcoming Apple TV+ movies will do the same.
Fly Me to the Moon
We begin with a stylish dramedy that arrives in theaters less than a month from now (on July 12), with a cast led by Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum.
Loosely based on a true story, Fly Me to the Moon is set against the high-stakes backdrop of NASA’s historic Apollo 11 moon landing mission. Tatum is the launch director who’s already facing a difficult task, with the eyes of the country upon the mission, when Johansson is brought in with a mission of her own. Given that the White House has deemed the mission too big to fail, Johansson’s sassy marketing maven Kelly Jones is directed to stage a fake moon landing as a backup.
Jones steps up to the job with panache in this hilarious bit of revisionist, out-of-this-world history.
The Instigators
Coming on Aug. 9, meanwhile, is something we’re not used to seeing Matt Damon and Casey Affleck in: A comedy.
In The Instigators, from director Doug Liman, Damon and Affleck play a desperate father and an ex-con (Rory and Cobby, respectively) who set out to rob a corrupt politician. “But when the heist goes wrong,” Apple explains, “the two find themselves engulfed in a whirlwind of chaos, pursued not only by police but also by backward bureaucrats and vengeful crime bosses.
“Completely out of their depth, they convince Rory’s therapist (Hong Chau) to join their riotous getaway through the city, where they must put aside their differences and work together to evade capture — or worse.”
Wolfs
This final Apple TV+ title, arriving in theaters on Sept. 20, is especially noteworthy for who it brings together.
Wolfs, from director Jon Watts, reunites George Clooney and Brad Pitt on screen for the first time since 2008’s Burn After Reading (and, of course, the Ocean’s heist franchise before that). Here, a little of that same Ocean’s chemistry shines through, with both men playing lone-wolf fixers who’ve been hired to clean up after the same crime. Initially suspicious and dismissive of the other, they come to realize they’ll need to work together to survive the night. Hijinks and hilarity ensue.
Wolfs, by the way, especially deserves a spot on your watch list thanks also to the presence of Watts, whose credits include Spider-Man: No Way Home and the brilliant FX spy series The Old Man.
