An action comedy is a hard thing to balance. Especially when there’s romance involved, but the latest Apple TV+ film Ghosted was the rare film of its kind, balancing that complex tightrope of tone with relative ease. Now it’s being reported that the Chris Evans and Ana de Armas film, directed by Rocketman’s Dexter Fletcher, has had the biggest debut in Apple TV+ history.
Reported exclusively by Deadline, Ghosted, which premiered on April 21, had 328,500 viewers in its first two days. This comes via Samba TV, and it’s suggested that those numbers continued to climb as the film headed into its first full week of release on Monday and Tuesday. When compared to other Apple TV+ films, Ghosted comes in way ahead of its streaming counterparts. This includes Apple TV+ film debuts of Finch at 228,500, Spirited at 174,000, Tetris at 88,000, and My Mind & Me at 78,100 views. Now this doesn’t mean 328,500 households finished the film as Samba TV numbers came from 3.1 million smart TVs that at least watched Ghosted for a minute. In a statement to Deadline Samba TV said:
“The star power of Chris Evans and Ana de Armas in Apple TV+’s latest movie Ghosted helped propel the movie to outperform nearly every other Apple TV+ movie premiers in the past year. Ghosted nailed the winning combination of action-packed adventure with romance and drama, offering something for everyone in the household. If early viewership is any indication of its continued success, audiences won’t be ghosting this breakout performer for the streamer.”
What’s Ghosted About?
Ghosted follows a normal everyday farmer named Cole (Evans) who falls head over heels for a seemingly normal woman named Saddie (de Armas). However, Saddie is anything but normal and is actually an agent working for the CIA. After Cole feels ghosted by Saddie, a series of unfortunate events follow and Cole is mistaken for a secret agent. This throws him into a globe-trotting adventure against a syndicate crime organization. If Cole and Saddie want to survive their “second date” they have to work together which is easier said than done.
What makes Ghosted more successful than most action comedies is that Fletcher has a great eye for spectacle and infuses the larger-than-life action with something that feels grounded and is quite hilarious. The whole dating a secret spy stunt has been done to death at this point, but Evans and de Armas sell every moment both in the action and the pair's whimsical distine for one another. Despite what some reviews will tell you, the pair share electric chemistry and have killer comedic timing. Particularly Evans has a lot of fun playing against his Captain America tough guy type with one shootout involving a suitcase that will have you on the floor dying of laughter. This film knows how to make you laugh while keeping the well shot action set pieces moving along in grand fashion. It also asked the age-old question, is an emoji a text. Spoiler alert, an emoji is definitely a text.
Like Samba TV alluded to, Ghosted had something for any movie fan to enjoy. This includes two of the hottest movie stars at the top of their game. Apple TV+ has a big year ahead of them with Ridley Scott’s Napoleon and Martin Scorsese's Killers of the Flower Moon. Ghosted’s numbers are only a preview of Apple TV+’s rising dominance in the streaming space.
Ghosted is Streaming Now
Ghosted is currently streaming on Apple TV+. The trailer can be viewed down below, and you can read Collider’s interview with Fletcher here.