Movies

Jimmy Iovine: original TV series and movies part of Apple Music pop cultural experience

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 16, 2017

The Wall Street Journal thinks Apple wants to buy rights to original television shows and movies as another way of enticing users into choosing Apple Music over competitors like Spotify and Pandora. Monday, The Hollywood Reported published an interview with Apple executive Jimmy Iovine, who said that adding original video content to the music-streaming service is part of the plan to turn Apple Music into a pop cultural phenomenon.

Apple posts new ‘Best of 2016’ video

Cody Lee ∙ January 3, 2017

Apple has shared a new video on its YouTube channel entitled 'Best of 2016.' As the name implies, the 53-second clip is a recap of some of Apple's favorite music, apps, movies and games from last year.

Set to an upbeat soundtrack, the video features several picks from Apple's Best of iTunes lists it released last month. including Drake's song Hotline Bling, the movie Deadpool and the photo app Prisma.

Hulu gains 50+ Disney films in exclusive streaming deal

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated March 29, 2017

Subscription video on demand service Hulu just announced an exclusive multi-year deal with the entertainment conglomerate Disney that gives it rights to stream a collection of hit movies and family favorites from the rich library of blockbuster films from The Walt Disney Studios. This means that Disney movies like The Nightmare Before Christmas, Mulan, Pocahontas, Hercules, Sister Act and Air Bud are all now available to stream exclusively via Hulu.

Here are 5 top-grossing holiday movies of all time on U.S. iTunes Store

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 22, 2016

Apple on Thursday released a list of the top five best-selling holiday movies of all time on iTunes Store in the United States. Elf, originally released in 2003 and starring Will Ferrell as Buddy the Elf, is the all-time best-selling holiday movie on iTunes Store.

In addition to the list of the top five holiday movies on iTunes Store, the Cupertino company yesterday launched limited-time movie bundles at discounted prices, a bunch of 99-cent rentals and films under $10.

Siri, cease all motor functions

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 9, 2016

It seems Apple's partnership with Universal Pictures that uses funny Siri responses to promote the animated movie “The Secret Life of Pets” was just the beginning. As revealed by actress Evan Rachel Wood who stars in “Westworld,” Siri is a fan of the show.

In another major movie tie-in for Apple, this time with HBO, Siri has learned some amusing responses to queries related to the science fiction western thriller television series created by Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy for HBO.

Here are some of them.

Apple wants to offer rentals for movies that just came out in theaters

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 7, 2016

Bloomberg is reporting that Apple is in discussions with Hollywood studios about eventually offering home rentals for new movies two weeks after they've hit the silver screen, but at a price.

New flicks are usually available for purchase on the iTunes Store 90 days after theatrical releases, followed by rentals two to four weeks later.

Movie studios are now said to be discussing rentals two weeks after they open in theaters though encryption is among the concerns in these talks, the article notes.

“Siri, what do my pets do when I’m not home?”

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 29, 2017

It seems Apple has partnered with Universal Pictures to promote “The Secret Life of Pets” by updating Siri's backend with a bunch of responses related to the animated movie. The company's official iTunes USA Facebook page promotes Siri partnership with a nicely done teaser video.

We also spotted a dedicated “Siri, what do my pets do when I'm not home?” banner which briefly appeared in the iTunes Movies app on the Apple TV.

How to fix Home Sharing not working on Mac, iPhone, and other devices

Anthony Bouchard ∙ Updated September 3, 2025

Find out what to do if music and video Home Sharing isn’t working between your Mac, iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, and Windows PC.

For today only, iTunes is offering 10-movie bundles for just $10

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 15, 2017

Ten years ago this month, digital movies launched on iTunes with just 75 titles, all from studios owned by Disney in which Steve Jobs was the largest individual shareholder. Today, iTunes offers more than 85,000 feature-length movies for purchase or rental. To celebrate ten years of iTunes Movies, Apple is offering six ten-movie bundles, priced at just $9.99.

For today only, customers in the United States can buy these bundles packed with releases from Warner Bros., Universal, Paramount, Lionsgate and Sony Pictures that cover a wide range of genres.

Hulu transitions free content to Yahoo View, renews focus on subscriptions

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 8, 2016

Hulu said today it's phased out its free, ad-suported tier as it refocuses efforts on subscription services. According to Variety, free TV episodes will no longer be available on Hulu, but the current $7.99/$11.99 per month paid tiers won't change. All Hulu content that was available free with ads has moved to Yahoo View, a new service designed for hosting free, ad-supported TV shows from the likes of ABC, NBC, Fox and others.

CBS All Access and Showtime streaming services have surpassed 2M subscribers

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 29, 2016

Cable providers can complain all they want about Apple’s “hard-nosed” negotiation tactics when it comes to digital entertainment, but some of them seem to be enjoying unexpected success after introducing over-the-top subscription packages specifically aimed at cord cutters.

Take as an example CBS and its All Access and Showtime Anytime video-streaming services, which have now surpassed two million subscribers, with user bases evenly split between the two, as revealed by CBS's CEO on a quarterly results conference call with analysts and investors.

Eddy Cue: Apple is a delivery platform, not a Netflix rival (plus, skinny bundle “is a misconception”)

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 14, 2016

Eddy Cue, 52, Apple's Senior Vice President of Internet Software and Services, sat down for an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, answering a series of questions related to Apple's alleged attempts to introduce a skinny bundle of television programming on iTunes, its relationship with content owners and swirling rumors that it may be invested in creating original programming to become the next Netflix or Comcast.