Apple was in advanced talks with Imagine Entertainment, the Hollywood production company owned by Ron Howard and Brian Grazer, about a possible “first look” deal, investment, or even full-on purchase — before discussions fell apart.
A new report claims negotiations were far enough along that both Tim Cook and Eddy Cue were involved. Imagine is the company behind big hit movies like Apollo 13 and The Da Vinci Code.
It’s not clear from the Financial Times article exactly what caused discussion to fizzle, but this isn’t the first time this has happened.
A report from last year claimed that Eddy Cue’s tough negotiating tactics angered TV industry execs during talks with companies such as Disney and Time Warner. Cue reportedly arrived late and improperly dressed to meetings, and then demanded that Apple get full on-demand seasons of hit shows and rights to a vast, cloud-based digital video recorder that would automatically store top programs and allow ad-skipping in newly aired shows.
Apple also tried to sign comedian Chris Rock to an “exclusive iTunes movie deal,” only to lose out on the deal when Rock instead signed a deal with Netflix worth $40 million for two stand-up specials.
The news comes at a time when Apple is attempting to muscle in on some of the original content creation that companies like Netflix and Amazon have poured billions of dollars into building.
However, while those two companies have created critical and commercial hits, so far Apple’s more modest efforts have resulted in hip hop documentaries and Planet of the Apps, a reality show which recently debuted its much-maligned first trailer.
Much as Apple had to change its business practices to start recruiting top AI researchers, it seems the “but we’re Apple” card doesn’t apply when you’re lagging behind the competition…
