Warning: Major spoilers for Knives Out below
The director of Knives Out has revealed a rather interesting bit of trivia about Apple (the tech company, not the fruit).
Sitting down with Vanity Fair this week, Rian Johnson claimed the bad guys in films aren't allowed to be shown using iPhones or other Apple products.
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He explained: "Another funny thing, I don't know if I should say this or not.
"Not because 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."
The filmmaker made the reveal while discussing one of the scenes in his 2019 film, a whodunnit with a cast including Daniel Craig, Toni Collette and Jamie Lee Curtis.
The scene in question sees Ransom Drysdale (Chris Evans) as he arrives at the Thrombey household where all of the characters congregate for the first time.
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The rule set out by Apple is particularly damning for Knives Out, since all of the characters at one point or another are suspected of murdering wealthy crime novelist Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer).
Spoiler alert: while several of them can be seen with iPhones, including Lee Curtis's Linda Drysdale, Ransom is one of the few suspects without an Apple product. And those who have seen the film will know he is the culprit.
Joking about the spoilery detail, Johnson said: "Every single film-maker who has a bad guy in their movie that's supposed to be a secret wants to murder me right now."
This isn't the first time Apple's control over how its products are depicted in TV and film has made the headlines.
In fact, WIRED reported on a similar quirk as far back as 2002, when all of the good guys in the thriller series 24 were shown using Macs, whereas the villains carried out their evil deeds on Windows PCs.
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According to MacRumors, the company says its products should only be used 'in the best light, in a manner or context that reflects favourably on the Apple products and on Apple Inc'.
Now the secret's out, what does this mean for Johnson's next feature? Considering he's signed up for a Knives Out sequel, he's going to have quite the job on his hands if he wants to include Apple products a second time round.
LADbible has reached out to Apple for comment.
Featured Image Credit: LionsgateTopics: TV and Film, Interesting, US Entertainment, Apple