Director Jon Watts has also been signed up for Wolfs 2, focusing on two rival fixers, with the first set to release next month.
Last month we heard that Apple was planning to cut back on some of its spending excesses, perhaps meaning that the days of its $200m splurges on films like Napoleon or Killers Of The Flower Moon might now be a thing of the past. The company is said to be keen to curb its reputation as ‘the biggest spender in town’ and wants to start getting better value for money from projects.
What that looks like, we don’t yet know but perhaps today’s news gives us an inkling.
The studio has reportedly given the greenlight to a Wolfs sequel. The first film features George Clooney and Brad Pitt in what looks to be a fun thriller, pitting two ‘fixers’ against each other. Jon Watts directs the film, following a long period of making Spider-Man movies and this looks like it could be an entertaining watch, perhaps a good old fashioned film that trades off the easy charm and chemistry of two big movie stars.
How much it cost to make, we don’t yet know but whatever it was, it clearly fits into Apple’s new spending strategy as a sequel has reportedly been given the go ahead. Both Clooney and Pitt will return, as will Jon Watts in the director’s chair. There’s no word as yet as to whether a Wolfs sequel will go with the same limited release theatrical release that its predecessor is getting next month.
Apple is running a kind of two-tier theatrical release strategy at the moment. ‘Bigger’ releases such as Argylle or its upcoming Formula 1 movie, directed by Top Gun: Maverick's Joseph Kosinski, are getting major theatrical releases rolled out in a traditional format. On the other hand, films like Wolfs and the recent Doug Liman-directed The Instigators have been the recipients of more limited releases as the studio continues to experiment with its theatrical strategy.
How Wolfs performs, both in cinemas and on Apple TV+ will likely have some say in determining the release strategy for Wolfs 2, or whatever it ends up being called. Either way, another collaboration between Clooney and Pitt is happening, spanning the two decades between the Oceans films and now. You can catch Wolfs when it releases in cinemas on the 20th of September.
