Evans, de Armas Movie ‘Ghosted’ Becomes Most-Watched Apple TV+ Film Premiere as Studio Plans Pivot to Theaters
The movie may be titled “Ghosted,” but audiences aren’t having a hard time finding it. That’s according to an excusive report from Deadline, which cites data from Samba TV that shows “Ghosted” became the most-watched movie premiere in the history of Apple TV+ in the two days following its April 21 release.
Samba’s numbers indicate that “Ghosted” was seen by 328,500 viewers in that time. That beats out every other Apple TV+ movie release, including popular titles like “Finch” (228,500 viewers in two days), “Spirited” (174,000 viewers), and “Tetris” (88,000 viewers). The data was sourced from a group of 3.1 million Samba TV households, who watched “Ghosted” for at least one minute on between April 21 and 23.
The numbers may not seem that impressive when put in that context, but Deadline’s sources are also saying that “Ghosted” has seen a 20% higher completion rate than the average Apple TV+ movie. People aren’t just starting the film and turning it off after a few minutes; most are watching it all the way through.
“The star power of Chris Evans and Ana de Armas in Apple TV+’s latest movie Ghosted helped propel the movie to outperform nearly every other Apple TV+ movie premiers in the past year,” Samba TV SVP Dallas Lawrence told Deadline. “Ghosted nailed the winning combination of action-packed adventure with romance and drama, offering something for everyone in the household. If early viewership is any indication of its continued success, audiences won’t be ghosting this breakout performer for the streamer.”
The film has not been as well-received by critics as it has by audiences. “Ghosted” currently sits at a score of 29% on Rotten Tomatoes, whose critical consensus states the film deserves “a chorus of boos.” It’s a bit of a departure for Apple TV+ in that regard, as the service usually prides itself on its commitment to creating quality content, rather than turning out an endless line of rubber-stamped TV shows and movies.
Ghosted
Salt-of-the-earth Cole falls head over heels for enigmatic Sadie—but then makes the shocking discovery that she’s a secret agent. Before they can decide on a second date, Cole and Sadie are swept away on an international adventure to save the world.
It cannot be argued, however, that Apple TV+ decided to try to make “Ghosted” on the cheap. Chris Evans and Ana de Armas are two of the hottest stars in Hollywood currently, and an ensemble cast of Adrien Brody, Mike Moh, Amy Sedaris, Tim Blake Nelson, and more surely didn’t help keep the budget small. That stands in contrast to other streaming platforms like Netflix and Paramount+, which are slowing down or keeping steady their content spending for budgetary reasons.
The success of “Ghosted” with audiences should be encouraging for Apple as it prepares to start putting more of its movies into theaters. A March report indicated Apple was looking to spend $1 billion every year on movies that would be released in cinemas, so building its reputation as a movie distributor now will pay dividends for the company down the road.
No matter what the critics think, it appears audiences are flocking to Apple TV+ to catch its latest flick. “Ghosted” beat out even the Best Picture-winning “CODA” in terms of viewers in its opening weekend, and it doesn’t appear likely to slow down any time soon.
Apple TV+
Apple TV+ is a subscription video streaming service for $9.99 a month that includes high-quality original shows and movies including Best Picture winner “CODA,” popular sitcom “Ted Lasso,” and dramas like “The Morning Show” and “Severance.” Apple TV+ is also home to MLB baseball games on Friday nights and MLS Season Pass.