‘Mayday’s’ Streaming Numbers Prove Ryan Reynolds’ Cold War Comedy Was Worth the Wait
Apple TV has spent years chasing the kind of blockbuster streaming moment that Netflix and Disney+ have made look routine, dropping big-budget swings that occasionally land but rarely dominate the weekly charts the way rivals do. That drought appears to be over, at least for one particular buddy comedy that took its time reaching audiences.
‘Mayday‘ had already generated plenty of pre-release chatter simply because of how long it sat on the shelf, having reportedly been completed since mid-2024 before Apple finally set a release date this past July. That kind of delay usually raises red flags for a film carrying a production budget well into nine figures and headlined by one of Hollywood’s most bankable stars.
Those concerns look misplaced now that the numbers are in. ‘Mayday’ is dominating streaming right now, with the Ryan Reynolds-led film pulling in an estimated 955.1 million minutes watched between September 4 and 10, according to Variety, nearly doubling the total of the week’s number 2 movie.
That 955.1 million-minute haul made ‘Mayday’ Apple TV’s biggest streaming week yet, according to Nielsen data. The film comfortably outpaced ‘The Whisper Man’ at 518.1 million minutes, ‘The Runner’ at 516.7 million, ‘Why Did I Get Married Again?’ at 363.8 million, and ‘The Secret Woman’ at 345.5 million to round out the top five most-watched movies that week.
The film’s dominance wasn’t limited to raw minutes watched, either. By September 7, just days after its debut, ‘Mayday’ had already claimed the number 1 spot for movies both domestically and worldwide according to FlixPatrol tracking, a rare feat for an Apple TV original going up against Netflix’s much larger subscriber base.
‘Mayday’ follows U.S. Navy pilot Lieutenant Troy “Assassin” Kelly, played by Reynolds, after a covert Cold War-era mission goes wrong and leaves him stranded behind enemy lines. He winds up forming an unlikely alliance with Nikolai Ustinov, a former KGB operative played by Kenneth Branagh who’s developed an unexpected fondness for American pop culture.
The cast also includes Maria Bakalova, Marcin Dorocinski, and David Morse rounding out the supporting roles. Directed by John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein, the duo behind ‘Game Night’ and ‘Vacation,’ the film runs 111 minutes and carries a PG-13 rating, blending buddy-comedy beats with old-school Cold War spy thriller tension.
The streaming success has come paired with strong reviews, with ‘Mayday’ currently sitting at an 81 percent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics have praised the film’s production value in particular, with one review noting it’s “a strong reminder that even a streaming comedy can look as good as any blockbuster.”
Much of that polish appears deliberate, with Reynolds having spoken about how ‘Top Gun’ shaped his own love of aviation films growing up, describing its appeal as making “everything about America just a little shinier, bigger, cooler, faster.” That influence reportedly runs throughout ‘Mayday,’ which leans into similar aerial spectacle while carving out its own comedic identity.
First trailer for Mayday, starring Ryan Reynolds.
— cinesthetic. (@TheCinesthetic) July 14, 2026
The film follows a hotshot U.S. Navy pilot stranded behind enemy lines during the Cold War after a secret mission goes disastrously wrong. pic.twitter.com/0k6BeAlU5S
For a platform that has struggled to consistently break into the weekly streaming conversation, ‘Mayday’s’ performance represents a genuine milestone rather than just a solid opening. Nearly doubling the next closest competitor in total minutes watched is the kind of result studios point to when justifying future nine-figure bets on original films.
Whether ‘Mayday’ can sustain this momentum in the weeks ahead remains to be seen, but its opening stretch has already cemented it as one of the platform’s defining releases of the year. For Reynolds and Branagh, it’s a clear signal that Cold War comedy still has plenty of audience appetite left in it.
The long road to release now looks less like a red flag and more like a footnote in the film’s success story. A movie that sat finished for roughly two years before finally landing a release date could easily have been dismissed as a shelved passion project, yet the numbers suggest Apple simply waited for the right moment to launch it.
That patience appears to have paid off, giving ‘Mayday’ room to arrive without competing against a crowded release calendar. Whatever the reasoning behind the original delay, the film’s audience clearly didn’t hold it against them.
Have you watched Mayday yet?
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