The action comedy reunited ‘Grey Man’ stars Chris Evans and Ana de Armas.
“Ghosted” offers a reminder that Evans possessed considerable appeal (including his work as a romantic interest in “The Nanny Diaries”) before he picked up Captain America’s shield, and de Armas has super-spy credentials from the James Bond movie “No Time to Die” and “The Gray Man,” one of her previous collaborations (along with the more successful “Knives Out”) with Evans.
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.
Ghosted, which premiered on April 21, had 328,500 viewers in its first two days.
“Chris Evans and Ana de Armas” is about all that’s required to make the sales pitch for “Ghosted,” a spirited if familiar action-based romantic comedy, where the sparring banter generally outshines the muscular stunts. Throw in clever cameos and this Apple TV+ movie delivers on its promise of unpretentious fun.
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.
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??
Fletcher has a great eye for spectacle and infuses the larger- than-life action with something that feels grounded and is quite hilarious.
Director Dexter Fletcher (“Rocketman”) relies on the natural chemistry between the two to carry the simple premise, which begins with the unassuming Cole (Evans), who works on his family farm, meeting.
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.
