THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER – The spy drama from Matthew Vaughn is the latest Apple project getting a global release in theaters before it streams.
Apple Original Films is making more moves in the theatrical space. The streaming service is teaming with Universal to give the Henry Cavill spy thriller Argylle a Feb. 2, 2024, exclusive global release.

It’s the latest high-profile feature that Apple has opted to grant a theatrical window ahead of its streaming debut. The company is already teaming with Sony to put Ridley Scott’s Napoleon into theaters this Thanksgiving, while it has Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon due out Oct. 6 via Paramount.

Until this year, streamers have been hesitant to give films a traditional theatrical release, however, major theater chains won’t play a title unless it has an exclusive window (generally that means 35 to 40 days). In April, Amazon put its Ben Affleck feature Air in theaters before its streaming debut.

Argylle hails from Mathew Vaughn, who produced the film via his MARV banner. Jason Fuchs penned the script. In announcing the project in 2021, Vaughn stated it is based on an as-yet unpublished novel from a first-time writer called Elly Conway (though some mystery about the book — and its author, abounds).

In addition to Cavill, Argylle stars Bryce Dallas Howard, Sam Rockwell, Bryan Cranston, Catherine O’Hara, John Cena, Dua Lipa, Ariana DeBose and Samuel L. Jackson.

Argylle‘s Feb. 2, 2024, release date is already home to the Warner Bros. Robert De Niro mobster movie Wise Guys and the Lionsgate horror feature Imaginary. Argylle is produced by Cloudy Productions and Adam Bohling, David Reid and Fuchs. Zygi Kamasa, Carlos Peres, Claudia Vaughn and Adam Fishbach are executive producers.

In 2021, Vaughn told The Hollywood Reporter he and Apple were discussing a potential theatrical component for Argylle, though it’s worth noting times were very different back then. The pandemic was still putting pressure on theaters, and streaming services had not yet explored traditional releases.

“Apple believes in cinema and I believe in cinema,” Vaughn said at the time. “So we’re discussing how to give it the right cinematic release, not necessarily the normal cinematic release. It’d be a cinematic release that is right for Argylle, and Argylle is quite specific and different. So weirdly, it lends itself to a whole new way of being released.”