Greyhound ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Kudos to Tom Hank and company for breaking the top weekend debut record at AppleTV+.
Apple’s WWII drama Greyhound, starring and written by Tom Hanks, has become the largest opening-weekend release ever for Apple TV+, including series that have bowed on the service, sources close to Apple tell Deadline. The streamer is loathe in giving up exact numbers, but I’m told the film turned in a viewing audience commensurate with a summer theatrical box office big hit,
Tom Hanks-Starrer Greyhound Torpedoes Apple TV+ Opening Weekend Record – Deadline
I don’t mean to dismiss this record setting event in any way, but really, what has been the competition at AppleTV+? There’s been the Amazing Stories reboot, which hasn’t generated that much excitement. I’ve heard a little bit of fanfare over the Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon TV series The Morning Show. There have been no other big movies or TV shows I’m aware of on this film’s level.
This will bolster Apple’s desire to buy more exclusive films. That’s a win for AppleTV+ subscribers. Good job all around!
Movies, Movies, Movies 
Good for Apple to be sure, but I’m frustrated with the general push to report positive PR as news. No actual figures, no accurate bottom line, just Netflix, Amazon, Apple or whoever talking about big viewership. We used to be able to tell from the box-office numbers if a film was finding an audience at the cinema; now all we have is fake news.
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I should have mentioned that we must consider the source. Guess I believe them that this did really well whatever that means, to your point lol. I wrote about Netflix and the numbers game here: https://moviereviewsbyus.com/2020/01/26/2-minutes-watched-now-counts-you-as-a-viewer-in-netflixs-stats/
And here: https://moviereviewsbyus.com/2019/12/10/the-irishman-had-26404081-views-in-the-first-week-says-netflix-cough-wink-cough/
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Yup, so while they may well know what the data is, it’s not like we’re reading screen averages or total grosses. Everything is a success, there are no failures, everyone is doing well until one day, abruptly, they go bust. In a pandemic, all streaming should do well, it’s immune to many of the ongoing issues, although product may be a problem further down the line. But yes, the most popular product on Apple tv+ so far is kind of like the old ‘best dressed man in Albania’ gag.
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As mentioned above, I’m not aware of any other movie with this type of star power. Obviously people are going to tune in for this movie. It was meant for the theater and they bought a lot of people stopped in, probably many on a free trial, watched this, but the question is: will they stay subscribed? There isn’t a lot at AppleTV+ to keep people subscribed. That’s the question Apple needs to consider.
What’s the retention rate? If you pay a bunch of money, a bunch of people flock in and watch — and then most leave — was it worth it?
You need a lot of $4.99 monthly subscriptions to add up to $70+ million. That’s 1.4 million subscribers. I doubt seriously Greyhound will generate even half that many $5 subs. Just a guess on my part, but I don’t think there’s enough there to keep that many people subscribed. For Apple’s sake, I hope I’m wrong. Maybe they are seeing something else. A branding exercise, maybe. I don’t know.
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Agreed, although I used to say that the Netflix model wouldn’t work. Then the pandemic hit. I didn’t see that coming. But yes, people will come for Greyhound, but what will they stay for?
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I think this where Apple has screwed up in its planning and, to some degree. You need a library of movies and TV shows people want to watch/rewatch as an anchor until you have enough new content. Netflix realized this years ago that licensing was going to become more difficult and expensive, so they got busy buying and creating more original content than anybody.
Apple might be too late to the game and don’t seem interested in filling up their backlog with classic movies and TV shows. They are taking an attitude of we’ll be “only originals and exclusives” — without the depth of Netflix, this is a ballsy move that probably will not pay off. I think they end up partnering with somebody else.
HBO Max has been at this since the 70s with their own stuff not to mention the Warner Bros. depth, they have plenty to pull from and keep subscribers.
NBC has a deep catalog as well with Peacock, so assuming they keep the flow of originals/exclusives they can stay competitive in the game. They aren’t exactly launching with the bang they were hoping for.
Quibi is done, stick a fork in them, unless somebody buys them (Apple maybe?).
Amazon? Well, they are Amazon, they have the deepest biggest library of movies from just about everybody and they’re creating and out there buying too. Amazon could surprise everybody by overtaking Netflix as #1 — if only they get serious about what they’re doing. They seem only half-serious — and it shows.
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Agreed; Apple TV hoped to be the aggregator through which you watch all or at least most other streamers. That’s why they hoped that Netflix’s borrowing would open them up for acquisition, but the pandemic changed that particular game. Like Amazon, Apple’s streaming can play with money raised elsewhere, but Greyhound aside, it’s all a bit half-hearted.
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I just realized in my summary that I left out Disney. Obviously Disney with their massive existing library of family-friendly titles is going to be the favorite for families with young children (my grandchildren must have watched Moana and Frozen II 50+ times) and the fact that they have Marvel and Star Wars, well, they have nothing to worry about either.
Whomever can bundle all of these great services for a cheaper single monthly price through an aggregated menu is going to be the winner. People don’t want to have 8 different services and apps to log through. We don’t mind, but we’re on the cutting edge of this, the average person wants it to be on Amazon Fire or their Roku-powered TV.
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Absolutely. Disney seemed rock solid until Xmas, but they’ve got cash flow issues now. Maybe Apple’s long game is to pick them off one by one…
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