Tom Hanks Film ‘Finch’ Breaks Viewership Record for Apple TV+

Lightning has struck a second time for the partnership between legendary Hollywood star Tom Hanks and Apple TV+. Hanks’ second hit film to debut on the streaming service shattered the previous opening weekend record originally set by Hanks’ first feature Apple TV+ film.

As the coronavirus pandemic shuttered theatres around the world last year, Apple managed to pick up exclusive rights to Greyhound, a film written and produced by Tom Hanks that also had him in the starring role. Greyhound was originally slated to debut in theatres under the Sony Pictures banner, but when that became impossible, Hanks and Sony started shopping around to find a new home for it on a streaming service.

Of course, it likely didn’t hurt that the co-heads of Apple’s Worldwide Video division also hail from Sony, nor that Hanks already had a cozy relationship with Apple for a big miniseries. However, regardless of the reasons why, Greyhound went to Apple, becoming the first Tom Hanks film to premiere on any streaming service.

It was a necessary but rather somewhat of a bittersweet development for Hanks, as it denied audiences the opportunity to experience the big screen picture and sound quality it was made for. Even so, when Greyhound debuted on Apple TV+ in July 2020, it not only became the largest opening weekend in the short history of Apple TV+, but it actually rivaled that of a major summer theatrical box office hit. It also drew in a massive number of new Apple TV+ subscribers too.

Now, the popularity of the latest Tom Hanks film, Finch, has pushed Apple TV+ to even greater heights, with Deadline reporting that it eclipsed Greyhound last weekend to become the most-watched film opening in the history of Apple TV+.

As usual, Apple isn’t being particularly forthcoming about the audience numbers. Still, insiders told Deadline that the apocalyptic drama more than doubled its previous opening day audience, once again easily drawing in numbers equivalent to the box office results for a hit blockbuster movie.

To be fair, Finch also premiered in over 100 countries simultaneously, so it likely reached many more eyeballs than a traditional theatrical release would have even in the days before the coronavirus got in the way of our fun. Nonetheless, it’s another big coup for Apple’s streaming service, which many have written off as largely irrelevant due to its slow start and lack of a large content library.

Why This Film?

Of course, the star power of Tom Hanks can easily draw in viewers to any streaming service. Apple TV+ is no exception — especially since Apple has been very aggressive in making sure its Apple TV app is available on everything from smart TVs to game consoles and streaming sticks. It even has a button on Roku’s remote.

Greyhound and Finch are the two biggest feature films to debut on Apple TV+ by far. However, as Deadline notes, the field is about to get a lot more crowded, with Apple’s production teams working on new films with other such Hollywood legends as Martin Scorsese, Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, Will Smith, Brad Pitt, and George Clooney, to name a few.

Apple has also made no secret of the fact that it’s aiming for Oscar-winning films, which is also probably why, despite spending billions of dollars on productions, it continues to put forward relatively few originals compared to rival services like Netflix.

Quality over quantity continues to be Apple’s mantra here. However, there’s enough in the pipeline that it’s safe to say things will start getting pretty exciting over the next year. Additionally, analysts are strapping in for a wild ride, with many conservatively predicting the service will become a $9 billion business by 2025, with subscriber levels that will ultimately rival the likes of Netflix and Disney+.