Apple says it will release more TV shows and movies

Eddy Cue said Apple wants to keep expanding its film and television business, using Cannes to frame the company’s next step as both a quality play and a volume play. The Apple executive, who oversees the company’s media and entertainment operations, said, “We want to keep getting better and more,” while accepting Cannes Lions’ 2026 Entertainment Person of the Year honor in Cannes, France.

The award, announced on May 19, recognized Cue for shaping entertainment through storytelling and innovation and noted that Apple TV had become one of the industry’s most award-winning and culture-defining services under his leadership. Cannes Lions said Cue has also overseen Apple Music, Apple Podcasts, Apple Books and other services, giving the honor added weight inside a company that still makes its name in hardware but has built entertainment into a larger business line.

Apple’s push began in 2019, when it announced Apple TV+ on March 25 and said the service would launch on Nov. 1 in more than 100 countries and regions for $4.99 a month. Apple said the service was available starting that day, with original shows, movies and documentaries at the center of the offering. Since then, the company has used a mix of prestige television, star-driven films and theatrical releases to build a catalog that now includes CODA, The Studio and Ted Lasso.

The company’s biggest validation came on March 27, 2022, when CODA won Best Picture at the 94th Academy Awards. Apple said the film became the first with a predominantly Deaf cast to win the category, a milestone that gave the streamer a rare cultural and awards breakthrough. Apple later followed with F1 The Movie, released theatrically on June 27, 2025, which the company said has passed $629 million at the global box office and is the highest-grossing sports film of all time.

Apple has already moved to extend that momentum. Cue told Reuters in May that of a sequel to F1, “I hope and expect there will be one,” and Apple says writers are working on a script. The company has also said the film will make its global streaming debut on Dec. 12.

The entertainment push is landing inside a broader services business that Apple says has hit record levels, with all-time-high Services revenue in fiscal Q1 2026 and another all-time record in fiscal Q2 2026. Apple also said its installed base topped 2.5 billion active devices in fiscal Q1, a built-in audience that gives the company a distribution advantage even as it tries to prove that prestige, theaters and streaming can scale together.