What can outmatch a major motion picture set in World War II, starring Tom Hanks, and filled with some epic battle scenes on warships in the ocean? Apparently a major motion picture set on a futuristic, apocalyptic planet Earth, with eye-catching environmental set pieces — and a very good dog.
Deadline is reporting today that, based on information shared by “insiders,” Apple TV+ saw another huge couple of days over the last weekend. That happens to coincide with the wide launch of the newest sci-fi film Finch, which stars Hanks and a very good dog (and a good robot, too). Apparently the film found its way in front of enough eyeballs to “eclipse” the previously held record holder, Greyhound, the WWII-set war title also starring Hanks (but not a dog or robot).
While Apple isn’t divulging hard numbers, the insiders say that Finch premiered in over 100 countries this last weekend. Over the course of that time period, the audience doubled from opening day. Which apparently led to generating the largest weekend ever for Apple TV+ so far.
Now, this is where things get interesting. Back in July of 2020, that’s when it was initially reported that Greyhound was the biggest opening weekend for Apple TV+. And the biggest movie premiere on the streaming service. It went so well for Apple and the video streaming service that it was reported soon after the company was ready to double down on huge blockbuster films moving forward. So, that lines up.
Since then, though, Apple’s heralded “most-watched weekend” award was handed out yet again, this time to the last weekend in January of this year. At that time, it wasn’t just one film leading the charge, though. The Justin Timberlake-starring Palmer found a lot of momentum for Apple TV+, but it was bolstered by new seasons of the thriller Servant and the anachronistic dramedy Dickinson.
If anything, this just goes to show how big Finch was for Apple TV+.
Still, it sounds like Tom Hanks has become a certifiable star for Apple TV+. It begs the question, will we see more of him on the service in the future, thanks to this pretty obvious trend? Maybe more Tom Hanks and dogs? Or Tom Hanks and robots?
Hanks isn’t quite done with Apple TV+, though. He’s executive producing the upcoming spiritual successor to the Band of Brothers series, this one’s called Masters of Air and it’s also being produced by Steven Spielberg. Hanks isn’t starring in that one, though.