The Lost Bus has become a major streaming hit. The biographical survival thriller, which was directed by Paul Greengrᴀss and produced by Jamie Lee Curtis and Jason Blum, stars Matthew McConaughey as Kevin McKay, a bus driver who strives to save a stranded group of schoolchildren during the ᴅᴇᴀᴅly 2018 Camp Fire in Paradise, California.

The true story of The Lost Bus was originally captured in Lizzie Johnson’s 2021 nonfiction book Paradise: One Town’s Struggle to Survive an American Wildfire. It was adapted to the screen by Greengrᴀss and Brad Ingelsby (Mare of Easttown). The movie’s cast also includes America Ferrera, Yul Vazquez, Ashlie Atkinson, and Levi McConaughey.

The same day that it premiered on Apple TV+, on October 3, The Lost Bus instantly sH๏τ to No. 1 on their daily chart of their most-watched movies in the United States. It has sH๏τ past a number of other notable Apple TV+ movies, including the Brett Goldstein romance All of You (No. 2) and Spike Lee’s Highest 2 Lowest (No. 3).

Additionally, according to Flixpatrol‘s proprietary metrics, The Lost Bus is No. 1 on Apple TV+ in more than 20 regions throughout North and South America, including Argentina, Canada, Guatemala, Panama, Nicaragua, and Honduras.

What This Means For The Lost Bus

The instant streaming success of the movie is not necessarily a surprise, considering how well-received it has proven to be in the wake of its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 5. While critics’ glowing The Lost Bus reviews earned the movie a Certified Fresh score of 87% on Rotten Tomatoes, audiences are liking it even more.

On Rotten Tomatoes’ Popcornmeter, verified user reviews have given The Lost Bus a stellar 92% score at the time of writing. If it is able to maintain that level of audience enthusiasm as more reviews are added, it could potentially become Verified H๏τ on top of its Certified Fresh status.

Our Take On The Lost Bus’ Streaming Popularity

While Apple TV+ has been behind a number of notable recent releases, including Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon and Ridley Scott’s Napoleon, they remain better known for their popular television series such as Severance, Ted Lᴀsso, Shrinking, and The Studio.

However, the Matthew McConaughey movie could be helping to shift the tide toward a more equitable balance between movies and series that loom large in the public imagination. Along with 2025’s earlier streaming hit, the Anya Taylor-Joy sci-fi movie The Gorge, The Lost Bus is showing that the streamer’s new releases are gaining more power to draw solid debut viewership.