Fresh off the stunning finale of “Lovecraft Country,” HBO’s newest occupant of the Sunday night time slot fared just as well in the ratings.
Sunday saw the premiere of Nicole Kidman and Hugh Grant thriller “The Undoing,” which managed to match the “Lovecraft Country” curtain-raiser with 1.4 million total viewers across all platforms. That figure puts it in the middle of the pack as far as HBO premieres over the last few months go. At the top of the recent new show pile is “Perry Mason” with 1.7 million all platform viewers, followed by “Watchmen” with 1.5 million viewers, then “The Undoing” and “Lovecraft” at 1.4 million, then “The Outsider” with 1.2 million.
HBO is hoping that delayed viewing for “The Undoing” will build in a similarly vertiginous fashion to “Lovecraft,” which has amassed over 10 million viewers to date with for its debut. Linear numbers for “Undoing” should be available Tuesday.
“The Undoing” is six-part limited series stars Kidman and Grant as Grace and Jonathan Fraser, who are living the only lives they ever wanted for themselves. Overnight a chasm opens in their existence: a violent death and a chain of terrible revelations. Left behind in the wake of a spreading and very public disaster and horrified by the ways in which she has failed to heed her own advice, Grace must dismantle one life and create another for her child and her family. Noah Jupe co-stars as the duo’s son, while Donald Sutherland plays Grace’s wealthy father.
It sees Kidman and David E. Kelley re-team after “Big Little Lies,” and has acclaimed helmer Susanne Bier directing.
Kidman and Grant spoke to Variety about working together for the first time, and explained how Bier was instrumental in bringing Grant on board.
