Justin Timberlake’s Palmer brings huge Apple TV+ viewership spike

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Justin Timberlake’s Palmer brings huge Apple TV+ viewership spike
Justin Timberlake‘s Palmer helped give Apple TV+ the best weekend it’s ever had.
Photo: Apple TV+

Apple TV+ just experienced its best weekend ever. And a big part of the reason was Palmer, a new drama starring Justin Timberlake that premiered on the streaming service Friday.

Apple bragged about its success to Deadline, who reported, “Palmer was Apple TV+’s third-biggest launch and second-biggest film.” It brought a “viewership spike of 33%.”

That likely put the movie behind Tom Hank’s Greyhound, which last summer brought in the largest opening-weekend audience Apple TV+ had experienced at the time. And probably ahead of Sofia Coppola’s On the Rocks, as that film’s premiere wasn’t accompanied with brags from Apple about how well it performed.

There’s no word on what show was the second-biggest launch on the service.

Palmer is a tearjerker

The Cult of Mac review calls Palmer a “tearjerker of the highest order.” There’s praise for the acting of both Timberlake and his child co-star Ryder Allen. And the review says, “It might not set the world on fire, but the film proves uniquely difficult to resist.”

Rotten Tomatoes gives it a 75% critics score, but a 92% audience score.

Plenty of new shows but no hard figures on Apple TV+ viewership

Palmer wasn‘t the only fresh content on Apple TV+ contributing to the viewership total over the weekend. The service launched new episodes of psychological drama Losing Alice and dramedy Dickinson. And the same goes for M. Night Shyamalan’s Servant.

But while Apple seemed happy to gush about Palmer’s strong viewership, the company did not talk hard numbers. Analysts rank its streaming service behind rivals when it comes to paying subscribers.

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