Ghost filmmaker Dexter Fletcher highlights the difference between directing for streamers and cinema

British filmmaker Dexter Fletcher is fresh off the release of his Apple TV+ crime thriller ghostlyand during a recent interview, Fletcher emphasized what he described as the “takes” needed when developing a project for a streamer.

“You can’t make a movie for streaming like you can make it for cinema,” Fletcher told Alex Zane’s A trip to the cinema podcast. “There are different standards and approaches. It has to be, precisely because people can get off very quickly.”

The rocket man The filmmaker went on to say that he had originally planned for a long and elaborate opening sequence ghostly with Ana De Armas driving a car through a mountain, referencing a scene from the 1978 film unfair play, starring Goldie Hawn and Chevy Chase. Fletcher said he took the scene to Apple, which said they understood what he was trying to create, but expressed concern about whether it would resonate with streaming audiences.

“I loved that three-minute opening scene, and they said you can’t do it because you can [the opening sequence] continues and nothing happens for the first 30 seconds. We know the data shows people are just going to get off,” he said. “I don’t want that, so I’m going to compromise.”

The deadline was announced earlier this week ghostly, starring de Armas alongside Chris Evans, was Apple TV+’s most-watched debut feature to date. In the first two days after the picture was broadcast on April 21, it attracted 328,500 viewers on Samba TV.

The data comes from a panel of 3.1 million SmartTV households that were switched on for at least one minute. Samba TV’s research panel is balanced and weighted by age, gender, race and US Census household income (approximately 112 million). The panel is nearly 100 times larger than Nielsen’s household footprint of 45,000 households.

Written by Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick, Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers, Ghosted follows Cole (Evans) as he falls head over heels in love with the enigmatic Sadie (de Armas) before making the shocking discovery that she is a secret agent. Before they can decide on a second date, Cole and Sadie are drawn into an international adventure to save the world.