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EXCLUSIVE: Jon Watts, the filmmaker who stepped out of the Spider-Man franchise with Tom Holland and Zendaya to script and direct George Clooney and Brad Pitt in the film Wolfs for Apple, created a press dustup yesterday when he let slip that he and they would not be doing a sequel, even though Wolfs became by far the most viewed feature film ever released on Apple TV+. Deadline revealed plans for a sequel at the same time we divulged that Apple had moved off plans for a full theatrical release in favor of a limited one with a quick jump to the streaming site. This followed Fly Me To The Moon 's inability to measure up in its extended box office run. Suffice to say that even though they showed up for the Venice premiere, all of the principals were very disappointed by the pivot. This is at the root of the sequel going away. It is similar to when Doug Liman feuded with Amazon after his Road House remake went straight to streaming despite his deal for a theatrical release and huge test scores, and he is not returning for the inevitable sequel. It underscores the continuing dilemma between streaming bows and risky theatrical release deals with big P&A spends. Apple is right now shooting the Brad Pitt-starrer F1, which will get a full theatrical release through Warner Bros before heading for Apple TV+. Watts has given Deadline an exclusive explanation of his view of what happened. Here goes:

"I showed Apple my final cut of Wolfs early this year," Watts told Deadline. "They were extremely enthusiastic about it and immediately commissioned me to start writing a sequel. But their last minute shift from a promised wide theatrical release to a streaming release was a total surprise and made without any explanation or discussion. I wasn't even told about it until less than a week before they announced it to the world. I was completely shocked and asked them to please not include the news that I was writing a sequel. They ignored my request and announced it in their press release anyway, seemingly to create a positive spin to their streaming pivot. And so I quietly returned the money they gave me for the sequel. I didn't want to talk about it because I was proud of the film and didn't want to generate any unnecessary negative press. I loved working with Brad and George (and Amy and Austin and Poorna and Zlatko) and would happily do it again. But the truth is that Apple didn't cancel the Wolfs sequel, I did, because I no longer trusted them as a creative partner."

Nobody commented for the record, but sources close to Apple consider the movie a success, and remain open to a sequel.