Apple TV+ Subscribers Can Watch These 51 Movies for Free

Among streaming services, Apple TV+ is renowned for its nearly obsessive focus on producing only original content. While the company occasionally offers up a few gems from elsewhere, they’re usually either tied into its bigger projects or part of more targeted promotions.

For example, Apple has nearly every Charlie Brown and Peanuts special available to stream, but that’s because it bought the rights to the entire franchise, and is producing new holiday specials and even working on a feature film. It did the same with Fraggle Rock, bringing all four seasons of the early-1980s Jim Henson show to supplement its original Fraggle Rock: Rock On series, a six-episode reboot that’s since been followed up by Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock.

We’ve also occasionally seen one-offs of specific films made available to complement other Apple TV+ features, such as when Apple made The Hunger Games franchise and Silver Linings Playbook available to coincide with Jennifer Lawrence’s Apple TV+ film Causeway.

While the connections in those previous cases have been pretty obvious, Apple is taking a sharp left turn today by making 51 classic movies available for Apple TV+ subscribers to stream as part of their subscription at no extra charge.

From The Accountant to Zoolander, there doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to the set of releases. 51 is an odd number, but there’s probably no hidden meaning here; it’s likely just the bundle Apple worked out.

The list includes quite a collection of past hit films, and while some have obvious connections to Apple projects, others appear to have only a tenuous link at best.

For example, Saving Private Ryan is a timely choice to include as it was arguably the inspiration for HBO’s hit Band of Brothers, which ultimately led to Apple’s current Masters of the Air. All three were produced by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks, who also starred in the film.

Others feature actors who have appeared in Apple TV+ hits, like Ryan Reynolds (The Proposal) and Will Ferrell (Old School), both of whom appeared in Apple’s Spirited. There’s also Leonardo Di Caprio (Titanic, The Wolf of Wall Street, Catch Me If You Can), who starred in Apple’s Killers of the Flower Moon, and Will Smith (Men in Black, I Am Legend) of Apple’s Emancipation, to name a few.

Then there’s a possible themed connection. We’ve already mentioned Saving Private Ryan which dovetails into Masters of the Air in more ways than one. There’s also Gravity which has a similar feel to Apple’s Constellation, which debuted last month.

Mostly, though, this feels like a random collection of films, suggesting that Apple may simply be experimenting with offering a back catalog to see what kind of uptake it might get. The films on offer certainly aren’t exclusive to Apple TV+, but they could be a nice bonus for those signing up to check out Apple’s originals.

It’s probably not a coincidence that these appear the same day Apple TV+ begins streaming Napoleon, which premiered in theatres in late November. Apple’s other big theatrical release, Killers of the Flower Moon, came to the streaming service in January, and its spy drama Argylle opened in theatres four weeks ago and will likely land on the service in late April or early May, shortly after this free movie promotion ends.

You can head over to the “Great Movies on Apple TV+” collection to see the complete list, all of which are available to Apple TV+ subscribers until the end of March, with some running through the end of April. Sadly, this appears to be a US-only offer, at least for now.