‘The Lost Bus’ Is Apple TV+’s Most-Watched Movie of the Week

Apple TV+ is leaning hard into a mix of big new premieres and timeless favorites right now, so the most-watched titles span everything from high-stakes thrillers to classic ‘Peanuts’ holiday specials. This week’s standouts include brand-new Apple Original Films, recent streaming hits, and animated staples that keep coming back into the spotlight whenever the holidays roll around. Whether someone is in the mood for wartime tension, family road-trip chaos, or a nostalgic half-hour with Charlie Brown, these are the movies drawing the most eyeballs on the service at the moment.

10. ‘It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown’ (1966)

‘It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown’ is the 1966 Halloween special that follows Linus as he waits in a pumpkin patch for the mythical Great Pumpkin while the rest of the ‘Peanuts’ gang goes trick-or-treating and attends a party. The special also features Snoopy’s famous fantasy sequence as a World War I flying ace, adding a parallel storyline to the Halloween festivities. With a runtime of about 25 minutes, it became a seasonal television tradition before moving exclusively to Apple TV+, which now streams it as part of its long-term ‘Peanuts’ deal. During October, the platform often highlights the film in curated Halloween sections and has recently offered limited-time free streaming windows for non-subscribers around the holiday.

9. ‘Greyhound’ (2020)

‘Greyhound’ is a World War II naval drama starring Tom Hanks as a U.S. Navy commander leading a convoy of Allied ships across the North Atlantic while under threat from German U-boats. The film is based on C. S. Forester’s novel ‘The Good Shepherd’ and focuses on the tactical decisions and constant tension of anti-submarine warfare during the Battle of the Atlantic. Hanks also wrote the screenplay, and Aaron Schneider directed the film, which emphasizes radar plotting, convoy maneuvers, and communication under pressure. Originally intended for a theatrical release, it was acquired by Apple and premiered on Apple TV+ in 2020, later earning an Academy Award nomination in the sound category.

8. ‘A Charlie Brown Christmas’ (1965)

‘A Charlie Brown Christmas’ is the first-ever animated ‘Peanuts’ television special, originally broadcast in 1965 and now a central part of Apple TV+’s holiday lineup. The story follows Charlie Brown as he tries to direct the gang’s Christmas play and struggles with the commercialism of the season, eventually centering on a small, sparse tree that becomes a symbol of the holiday’s deeper meaning. Running just 25 minutes, it introduced the now-iconic Vince Guaraldi jazz score and many of the visual and thematic elements that define the on-screen ‘Peanuts’ world. Apple TV+ holds exclusive streaming rights to the special through 2030 and, in addition to year-round availability for subscribers, periodically makes it free to watch for limited windows in December.

7. ‘The Family Plan’ (2023)

‘The Family Plan’ is a 2023 action-comedy in which Mark Wahlberg stars as Dan Morgan, a seemingly ordinary suburban car salesman who is secretly a former government assassin. When enemies from his past resurface, he bundles his wife and children into a minivan under the guise of an impromptu road trip, turning a family vacation into a cross-country escape. Michelle Monaghan co-stars as his wife, with supporting roles from Maggie Q, Ciarán Hinds, and others in a story that mixes domestic comedy with fight scenes and chase sequences. The film, directed by Simon Cellan Jones and produced by Apple Studios and Skydance, premiered globally on Apple TV+ on December 15, 2023, and became the service’s most-watched movie at the time of its release.

6. ‘The Gorge’ (2025)

‘The Gorge’ is a genre-blending Apple Original Film directed by Scott Derrickson, combining science fiction, romance, action, and horror elements. The story follows two elite operatives, played by Miles Teller and Anya Taylor-Joy, who are assigned to guard opposite sides of a mysterious chasm without being told what lies within it. As they communicate from a distance and slowly form a bond, an emerging threat from within the gorge forces them into direct confrontation with the danger that brought them there. Released globally on Apple TV+ in February 2025, the movie quickly set a new record as the platform’s biggest film launch, surpassing previous streaming hits for Apple.

5. ‘Stiller & Meara: Nothing Is Lost’ (2025)

‘Stiller & Meara: Nothing Is Lost’ is a documentary directed by Ben Stiller about the careers and partnership of his parents, comedians Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara. The film traces their rise from improv stages and nightclub acts to television and film, exploring how their creative collaboration intertwined with their marriage and family life. It combines archival footage, performance clips, and new interviews to chart their influence on American comedy and their impact on later generations. The documentary premiered at the New York Film Festival in October 2025, followed by a brief theatrical run and then a global release on Apple TV+, where it serves as both a family portrait and a piece of entertainment history programming.

4. ‘All of You’ (2024)

‘All of You’ is a near-future science fiction romance directed by William Bridges, focusing on best friends Laura and Simon, whose relationship is tested by a technology that claims to identify a person’s true soulmate. Brett Goldstein and Imogen Poots play the lead roles, portraying characters who must navigate the tension between a supposedly perfect algorithmic match and the messy, very human history they share. The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2024 before being acquired for global streaming by Apple TV+. Apple TV+ scheduled its platform release for late September 2025, positioning it as a high-profile original in the streamer’s fall film lineup.

3. ‘Highest 2 Lowest’ (2025)

‘Highest 2 Lowest’ is a crime thriller directed by Spike Lee that reunites him with Denzel Washington, who plays David King, a powerful New York music mogul pulled into a kidnapping case. The film is an English-language reimagining of Akira Kurosawa’s ‘High and Low’, itself based on Ed McBain’s novel ‘King’s Ransom’, shifting the story into the contemporary music industry. After premiering out of competition at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, it had a limited theatrical release in the United States before moving to Apple TV+ as an Apple Original Film. The movie features an ensemble cast that includes Jeffrey Wright, A$AP Rocky, Ice Spice, and Princess Nokia, and it has been promoted as the latest major feature in Apple’s growing slate of prestige crime dramas.

2. ‘A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving’ (1973)

‘A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving’ is a classic animated ‘Peanuts’ special in which Peppermint Patty invites herself—and half the gang—over to Charlie Brown’s house for the holiday. With his parents away and no proper dinner prepared, Charlie Brown and Snoopy put together an improvised feast of toast, popcorn, and jelly beans before the characters finally head off to his grandmother’s real Thanksgiving meal. The special runs about 25 minutes and was originally released in 1973 as one of the early animated adaptations of Charles M. Schulz’s comic strip. Today it streams on Apple TV+ under the platform’s exclusive long-term deal for ‘Peanuts’ content, with limited-time free windows in November for viewers who don’t subscribe.

1. ‘The Lost Bus’ (2025)

‘The Lost Bus’ is a thriller from director Paul Greengrass that follows a school bus caught in one of the deadliest wildfires in American history. The story centers on a bus driver and a schoolteacher, played by Matthew McConaughey and America Ferrera, as they fight to get 22 children to safety through rapidly changing fire conditions. The film is inspired by real events and focuses on the split-second decisions, communication failures, and improvised escape routes that shaped the outcome for those on board. After a theatrical run beginning in September 2025, it debuted on Apple TV+ in early October as part of the Apple Original Films slate.

Share which of these ‘Apple TV+’ favorites you’ve watched this week—and which one you’re planning to press play on next—in the comments.