Lanterns is making history. The DC Studios series has scored the biggest premiere for any DC Studios series on Max while also landing among the top five series premieres of all time on the platform, drawing 9.3 million global viewers and 6.6 million in the US in its first three days of availability across HBO and Max.
What makes the numbers even more telling is who it outperformed. The premiere bested the opening weekends of It: Welcome to Derry, The Penguin and True Detective: Night Country, three series that went on to become massive hits, averaging 27.1, 19.8 and 17.5 million global viewers respectively. If those trajectories are any indication, Lanterns is just getting started. The premiere episode has also remained the number one title on Max’s daily Top 10 list since Sunday.
Starring Aaron Pierre and Kyle Chandler, Lanterns follows new recruit John Stewart and Lantern legend Hal Jordan, two intergalactic cops drawn into a dark, earth-based mystery with cosmic ties as they investigate a murder in the American heartland. The full cast includes Jasmine Cephas Jones, Sherman Augustus, J. Alphonse Nicholson, Nicole Ari Parker, Kelly Macdonald, Garret Dillahunt, Laura Linney, Poorna Jagannathan, Ulrich Thomsen, Jason Ritter, Nathan Fillion, Chris Coy and Paul Ben-Victor.
The series is co-created by Chris Mundy, Damon Lindelof and Tom King, with Mundy serving as showrunner. James Hawes directs the first two episodes. James Gunn, Peter Safran, Ron Schmidt and Hawes also executive produce.
New episodes of Lanterns air Sunday nights at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT on HBO and are available at the same time on Max.