Apple Won't Let Villains Have iPhones in Films, Says Rian Johnson

Director Rian Johnson just dropped a massive clue for the next time you watch a murder mystery.

In a new video interview for Vanity Fair, which could have simply been titled "Spoiler Alert," the director of the hit murder mystery "Knives Out" revealed Apple goes to great lengths to manage the image of its iPhone, even controlling what type of character can be seen using one.

"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," he explained.

Johnson was apprehensive at first about spilling the secret as he said it would "screw" him on the next mystery he were to pen. He also conceded the news would ignite a bit of a backlash from his Hollywood peers.

"Every single filmmaker that has a bad guy in their movie that's supposed to be a secret wants to murder me right now," he added with a laugh -- a nervous laugh.

Apple has strict guidelines for using Apple trademarks and copyrights in film and television. Their products should only be depicted "in the best light, in a manner or context that reflects favorably on the Apple products and on Apple Inc," according to MacRumors.

But it doesn't appear to be a recent trick for Apple. Back in 2002, Wired pointed out that the good guys on "24" all use Macs and the bad guys only do their dirty work on Windows PCs.

Controlling product placement is definitely not new either, as Coca Cola even went so far as to buy its own studio, purchasing Columbia Pictures in 1982, months before it debuted its latest offering, Diet Coke.

And the idea of incorporating consumer products with film dates back to 1931 when Fritz Lang's "M" had a 30-second shot lingering on a banner for Wrigley Gum, according to Vulture.

Meanwhile, Rian is currently working on a sequel to "Knives Out." Maybe it's a prequel now -- before cell phones were around.