The debut episode of “Power Book IV: Force“ set the Starz network record for largest viewing audience. The show, which stars Joseph Sikora reprising his role as Tommy Egan, premiered Sunday (Feb. 6) to rave reviews.
The premiere followed the finale of “Power Book II: Ghost“, which stars Michael Rainey Jr., Method Man and Mary J. Blige. “Force” is just the latest successful show in not only the Power universe but also 50 Cent’s efforts in the television world.
The show follows Tommy’s move to Chicago to rein supreme as the city’s new drug kingpin. Free of his former partner in crime in “Power”, James “Ghost” St. Patrick, Tommy seeks to establish a new criminal enterprise in a new city with new enemies.
In a press release, Starz president and CEO Jeffrey Hirsch wrote, “The Power” universe continues to deliver worldwide hit series with incredible performance that compares favorably with many other high-profile streaming series.” Hirsch also added, “We’re excited to see these strong early numbers for the premiere of Power Book IV: Force, which is poised to join our growing lineup of tentpole series at Starz that have global multi-platform season average views in the nine to ten million range.”
50 cent, who co-created and produced the series with Mark Canton and Courtney Kemp, celebrated the news in a post on Instagram.
Recently, 50 spoke out against the show’s lack of Hollywood awards. Despite its success, none of the shows in the “Power” universe have been nominated for an Emmy.
The ratings announcement comes on the heels of Fiddy’s rumored scheduled surprise appearance in the Super Bowl halftime show this Sunday (Feb. 13). Dr. Dre, who produced 50’s 2003 hit smash, “In Da Club,” will be headlining the show with Eminem, Mary J. Blige and Kendrick Lamar.