- The first episode of the HBO series viewed by millions in the US
- Biggest 4-day audience for a new series on Max globally for more than 18 months
- Colin Farrell stars in the spinoff series as Oswald ‘Oz’ Cobb, who becomes the penguin
The Penguin – the much-hyped DC spinoff series – has gone a long way to justifying that hype, with stellar viewing figures over its first four days since release.
Big numbers
The HBO series, starring Colin Farrell as the titular villain, had 5.3 million viewers in the US across all platforms in the first four days after it was released, according to Variety.
For comparison, the finale of Succession pulled in 4.9 million viewers. Although The Penguin was behind True Dectective: Night Country, which accrued 5.7 million viewers in its first four days.
It isn’t just in the US that the show has been a hit, The Penguin had the biggest four-day audience figures for a new show on Max in every region since January last year when ‘The Last of Us’ premiered.
The first episode of the series takes place in the days after events seen in the 2022 film ‘The Batman’, with Oz looking to gain control of Gotham’s underworld following the death of his former boss, Carmine Falcone.
In addition to Farrell, the show stars Cristin Milioti, Rhenzy Feliz, Deirdre O’Connell, Carmen Ejogo, Clancy Brown and Michael Zegen. Mark Strong has taken over the role of Falcone – who is seen in flashback scenes – who was played by John Turturro in the film.
Toll taken
While the series has been much watched, as well as receiving positive reviews from critics, filming The Penguin did take its toll on Farrell. The star has admitted that filming the new series took him to a dark place and some childhood classics were needed to alleviate his mood at the end of each day on set.
