Apple tapped as contender for J.J. Abrams' Bad Robot studio

Apple appears to be one of the companies vying to pick up Bad Robot, the production studio founded by Star Trek, Star Wars, and Lost director J.J. Abrams.

Apple is facing competition from the likes of Disney, Sony, Universal, and Warner Bros., Deadline said this week, citing several sources. Bad Robot is said to be avoiding its own term sheet, instead leaving potential dealmakers to come up with their own quotes.

Currently Bad Robot is under the wing of Paramount, which is reportedly paying an "eight-figure" overhead for the privilege. Abrams isn't under an exclusive directing agreement though, and in fact has spent much of the past five years directing two "Star Wars" films for Disney. Paramount is allegedly upset with this, in part because he could have improved the performance of movies like "Overlord" and "The Cloverfield Paradox," and he even chose to direct "Star Wars: Episode IX" after agreeing to direct a Paramount movie in exchange for a Bad Robot extension.

Disney is rumored to be the leading contender for the studio, in part because Abrams may have a close relationship with CEO Bob Iger, and Disney's upcoming streaming service could allow Bad Robot to pump out as many movies and shows as it wants. It also of course has theme parks, merchandise, and other moneymakers.

The studio does have some connections with Apple, since the two are working on a movie, "Little Voices," and "My Glory Was I Had Such Friends," a TV series with Jennifer Garner. Both of those should premiere on Apple's unnamed streaming service, coming sometime this year.

23 Comments

robbyx 478 comments · 19 Years

About 5 years ago

I'm not against Apple producing original content, but I don't think it's going to turn into a major revenue stream for them. I worry the quest for content is a fool's errand. For years I've said they should buy Nintendo and I still think that would be the best acquisition they could make. The lion's share of App Store revenue is video games and IAP associated with video games. Nintendo is profitable, has numerous well-established and beloved global franchises, and does good work when it comes to hardware and game controllers. I hope the original content play works out for Apple, but I think getting serious about gaming would be a much smarter move.

blurpbleepbloop 202 comments · 18 Years

About 5 years ago

robbyx said:

I'm not against Apple producing original content, but I don't think it's going to turn into a major revenue stream for them. I worry the quest for content is a fool's errand. For years I've said they should buy Nintendo and I still think that would be the best acquisition they could make. The lion's share of App Store revenue is video games and IAP associated with video games. Nintendo is profitable, has numerous well-established and beloved global franchises, and does good work when it comes to hardware and game controllers. I hope the original content play works out for Apple, but I think getting serious about gaming would be a much smarter move.

Content generally has a long shelf life - longer than tech, at least. So from that perspective perhaps this could be a good long play for Apple. Don’t expect much for maybe 5 years, but by then, they’ll still be hauling in money from their tech and they’ll have slowly amassed some decent to great content.
Prior to Netflix and Amazon producing some big hits, I think a lot of people, including myself, would have said that producing content is out of their (Netflix and a Amazon) wheelhouse and better left to others. And it is tempting to say that about Apple. Thing is, there is now a deluge of content out there...and so many draws for our attention that even ‘good’ content (you be the judge) is getting missed. Unless Apple pulls out some magic and produces a mega hit (or multiple hits) there is a danger that this will fizzle like their social media efforts and other offshoots of the core Apple biz. Time will tell - I’m not going to expect anything of this for several years, as I noted above. If they have a chance at success here, I think it’s in the long play.

iSalmanPak 58 comments · 8 Years

About 5 years ago

Disney should buy it. After all, they own everything else. Star Wars, Pixar, Marvel, The Muppets, Winnie the Pooh, you name it. Oh yeah, almost forgot....they just bought 20th Century Fox.

SpamSandwich 32917 comments · 19 Years

About 5 years ago

iSalmanPak said:

Disney should buy it. After all, they own everything else. Star Wars, Pixar, Marvel, The Muppets, Winnie the Pooh, you name it. Oh yeah, almost forgot....they just bought 20th Century Fox.

And then Apple could buy Disney. They currently have a market cap of $165 billion. Apple could easily gain a controlling interest.

randominternetperson 3095 comments · 8 Years

About 5 years ago

iSalmanPak said:

Disney should buy it. After all, they own everything else. Star Wars, Pixar, Marvel, The Muppets, Winnie the Pooh, you name it. Oh yeah, almost forgot....they just bought 20th Century Fox.

How confusing is it that Disney is buying 20th Century Fox (a studio) from 21st Century Fox (the grandparent corporation; Fox Entertainment is the parent). Too many foxes, too many centuries.