The director of 'Greyhound' is happy it's getting released on Apple TV Plus: 'Audience is a rare commodity right now'

• "Greyhound" director Aaron Schneider told Insider that he doesn't have a problem with the movie not being in theaters.
• Recently, the movie's star, Tom Hanks, said it was "an absolute heartbreak" that the movie won't play in theaters and instead will be on Apple TV Plus.
• Schneider sees things differently.
• "Audience is a rare commodity right now and I'm grateful to have one," Schneider told Insider.
• "Greyhound" is available on Apple TV Plus beginning Friday.

The Tom Hanks World War II movie "Greyhound" is the kind of story that's perfect for the big screen. There are huge battles between destroyers and U-boats. And it's all happening on a chilly, choppy ocean that goes on for as far as the eye can see.

Sadly, that's never going to happen because of the coronavirus pandemic. And the movie's director says he's OK with that.

"I see it as this is the way the world works right now," "Greyhound" director Aaron Schneider told Insider over the phone on Tuesday.

In an unprecedented time where Hollywood has to figure out what movies to make available to stream and others to hold and show in movie theaters when they reopen, "Greyhound" found itself being placed in the streaming pile. Its studio, Sony, sold the movie to Apple TV Plus for around $70 million and now will be available to its subscribers this Friday.

Hanks, who is also the screenwriter on the movie and one of its producers, recently told The Guardian that the movie's release on a streaming platform is "an absolute heartbreak."

However, Schneider, who admits he had little say in the decision to sell the movie to Apple, sees things differently.

"When theaters come back there will be a big bottleneck of films waiting, but theaters won't be able to sell as many tickets so this all won't end until everyone's eating popcorn next to each other shoulder to shoulder. Audience is a rare commodity right now and I'm grateful to have one."

And the reality is, it's hard to project when movie theaters will reopen.

For months, July was the target the industry had for things to begin to move back to normalcy with the release of Christopher Nolan's "Tenet" and Disney's live-action version of "Mulan." However, both movies are now slated to open in August (August 12 for "Tenet," August 21 for "Mulan") following spikes in coronavirus cases in states like Florida, Texas, and Arizona.

That has now caused other states to pull back its indoor reopening plans, including New Jersey. On Tuesday, the governor of the state was sued by a group of theater chains — including the biggest in the country, AMC, Cinemark, and Regal — claiming a First Amendment right to reopen.

Getting back to the theaters doesn't seem to be something that's going to happen soon, so Schneider has no issue with how "Greyhound" will be seen this weekend.

"As filmmakers, we don't make movies for ourselves we make them for audiences, and the world is telling us right now that there are no audiences in the theater," Schneider said.