'Palmer' leads Apple TV+ to its biggest weekend so far

Palmer leads Apple TV+ to a record-breaking weekend.

What you need to know

• A new report from Deadline says that Apple TV+ experienced its most viewers ever last weekend.
• The new record was reached mostly through the premiere of Palmer.

As reported by Deadline, more viewers tuned into Apple TV+ over last weekend than ever before. Apple has attributed its new weekend record to the premiere of the new drama Palmer, starring Justin Timberlake.

While Apple does not release exact numbers of any of its shows (or the service overall), the company says that Palmer was its third-biggest launch and second-biggest film on Apple TV+ so far.

While the streamer doesn't divulge specifics, Palmer was Apple TV+'s third-biggest launch and second-biggest film, per the studio. Apple heads of worldwide video Zack Van Amburg & Jamie Erlicht and head of features Matt Dentler acquired it in July. The drama follows a former college football phenomenon named Eddie Palmer (Timberlake). After a stint in prison, he returns to his hometown to get his life back on track. There, he faces not only lingering conflicts from his past but also a much more surprising challenge as he finds himself suddenly in charge of a unique young boy who has been abandoned by his wayward mother.

According to the report, viewership of the streaming service jumped 33% over last weekend. While Palmer played the main role, both Servant and Dickinson premiered new episodes of their second seasons and Losing Alice also debuted.

Also helping the weekend's viewership spike of 33% was the sophomore seasons of Servant and Dickinson and the premiere of Losing Alice. Apple has been building awards momentum with the animated Wolfwalkers, the docu Boys State, the Sofia Coppola-directed On the Rocks starring Bill Murray and Rashida Jones and the Tom Hanks-starrer Greyhound. Coming up next in awards season are Cherry, the Joe & Anthony Russo-directed drama that stars Tom Holland and Ciara Bravo that bows March 12, and Billie Eilish: The World's a Little Blurry, the R.J. Cutler-directed docu on the singer-songwriter and her rise to global superstardom, bowing February 26.

Over the weekend, it was also reported that Apple landed CODA in a record-breaking deal at the Sundance Film Festival.