Apple’s Eddy Cue on ‘F1’ Sequel, Why Apple TV Has Never Licensed Library Content and Being Inspired by Steve Jobs
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- Eddy Cue told Jerry Bruckheimer on the Cannes Lions main stage that an "F1: The Movie" sequel is "hopefully" coming, though Apple hasn't officially greenlit it
- "F1: The Movie" took in $634 million worldwide, making it Brad Pitt's biggest film ever and earning a Grammy for Chris Stapleton's "Bad as I Used to Be"
- Bruckheimer revealed a separate Apple project about UFOs/UAPs with producer Joseph Kosinski, described as "kind of 'All the President's Men' about what the government's been hiding"
- Apple TV+ launched in 2019 with just five or six original shows and has never licensed library content — a strategy Cue said "most people told me you couldn't do"
- Cue spent two years searching for the right executives, ultimately hiring former Sony Pictures Television execs Jamie Erlicht and Zack Van Amburg in 2017
- Cue recalled asking Steve Jobs early in his career why Pixar could produce hit after hit, and Jobs told him "it begins and ends with the story"
- Apple TV is now an EGOT winner after "Schmigadoon!" took a Tony: Oscar for "CODA," 13 Emmys for "The Studio," and the Grammy from "F1"
- Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Aniston were the "first people to believe in us," Cue said; he won "The Morning Show" by arguing Apple would give the show 100% support since it had no other programming
Why it matters: Cue's remarks lay out Apple's entertainment blueprint six years in: no licensed library content, elite ex-Sony TV hires, and a story-first philosophy inherited from Steve Jobs. Starting with just five original shows in 2019, Apple TV+ is now an EGOT winner, and the $634M "F1" hit — plus a "hopefully" coming sequel — shows its selective, theatrical-tied film bets are gaining recognition. The Apple approach remains a deliberate counter to streaming rivals chasing volume and catalog depth.
