In a Tuesday interview with Vanity Fair, “Knives Out” director Rian Johnson shares an interesting tidbit that might help you spot the bad guy in the next movie you view. Apple, he says, when allowing iPhones to be used in movies, stipulates that bad guys aren’t allowed to use iPhones.
Also another funny thing, I don’t know if I should say this or not… Not cause it’s like lascivious or something, but because it’s going to screw me on the next mystery movie that I write, but forget it, I’ll say it. It’s very interesting.
Apple… they let you use iPhones in movies but — and this is very pivotal if you’re ever watching a mystery movie – bad guys cannot have iPhones on camera.
So oh nooooooo, every single filmmaker that has a bad guy in their movie that’s supposed to be a secret wants to murder me right now.
Apple has long had strict rules as to how its devices are used, portrayed, and photographed. Apple’s trademarks and copyrights guidelines specify that Apple products should only be shown “in the best light, in a manner or context that reflects favorably on the Apple products and on Apple Inc.”
The fact that good guys in films and TV shows use Apple products, while the bad guys are Android or Windows users, has been noticed by many viewers over the years. This even led Wired to write about a fan theory about how the good guys use Macs while the bad guys use PCs.
In addition to “Knives Out” (which is quite entertaining, but not quite the movie that is shown in the trailers), Johnson also last year created a short film using only the iPhone 11 Pro, handheld, with built-in lenses.
The relevant passage begins at the 2:50 mark in the video.
