No Apple TV+ movie ever had a bigger opening weekend than The Gorge, according to the streaming service. It seems viewers were drawn to the romantic action thriller starring Anya Taylor-Joy and Miles Teller. Perhaps it’s the film’s mysterious hook.
And this wasn’t the only thing Apple TV+ had to crow about — it revealed on Wednesday that Severance had just become its most popular series ever.
The Gorge got the biggest premiere weekend ever for an Apple TV+ movie
Apple TV+ created multiple hit series, not just Severance. But it’s been less successful with films. Killers of the Flower Moon and CODA did well, but nearly all the streaming service’s attempts to make a big audience-pleaser have fallen flat.
But its most recent movie breaks the trend of recent lackluster offerings.
“Apple Original Films’ The Gorge has become the biggest film launch in the young streamer’s history,” Deadline reported on Thursday. “The company confirms it is the biggest film premiere in Apple TV+ history, driving double-digit growth globally for the service and boosting new viewers by +80%, weekend over weekend.”
That means the The Gorge beat out the crime thriller Wolfs starring George Clooney and Brad Pitt; the spy thriller Argylle starring Henry Cavill and Bryce Dallas Howard; the action romance Ghosted starring Chris Evans and Ana de Armas; and others. But none of those did all that well with audiences, so Apple’s latest had a fairly low bar to jump over.
Romance, action and mystery
The premise could be the secret of the new film’s success. The Apple TV+ teaser synopsis for the film says:
“Two highly-trained operatives (Miles Teller and Anya Taylor-Joy) are appointed to posts in guard towers on opposite sides of a vast and highly classified gorge, protecting the world from an undisclosed, mysterious evil that lurks within. They bond from a distance while trying to stay vigilant in defending against an unseen enemy. When the cataclysmic threat to humanity is revealed to them, they must work together in a test of both their physical and mental strength to keep the secret in the gorge before it’s too late.”
The film can be watched now.
Finding out the secret of The Gorge comes with a subscription to Apple TV+. The service is $9.99 per month with a seven-day free trial. You can also get it via any tier of the Apple One subscription bundle.
And Apple’s streaming video service also includes a library of drama, comedies, musicals, children’s shows, nature documentaries, etc.
