--- description: The project from Glee's Ryan Murphy is now the fifth-biggest debut of all HBO movies since 2010 title: The Normal Heart: HBO's Movie Draws 1.4 Million image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt58d70e76a61a5f59/698690fcd0b6f25601304730/normalheart07.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # HBO's _The Normal Heart_ Pulls in 1.4 Million Viewers  by [Nolan Feeney](/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 27, 2014 9:09 PM CUT  HBO  by [Nolan Feeney](/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 27, 2014 9:09 PM CUT HBO’s _The Normal Heart_ [brought in 1.4 million viewers](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/tv-ratings-hbos-normal-heart-707304 "undefined") on Sunday night, making it the fifth-biggest debut of the 17 films HBO has created since 2010, according to _The Hollywood Reporter_. _Glee_ creator Ryan Murphy directed the adaptation of Larry Kramer’s award-winning 1985 play, which followed the early days of the AIDS crisis in New York City and starred Mark Ruffalo, Matt Bomer, Taylor Kitsch and Julia Roberts. Just under 1 million people watched the first screening at 9 p.m., while more than 400,000 viewers tuned in for a second broadcast later that night. The total audience for the film is expected to spike once time-shifted viewings and HBO Go users are factored in. While the numbers aren’t bad for the [film](http://time.com/109156/the-normal-heart-review-hbo/ "undefined"), the showing pales in comparison to Lifetime’s _Flowers in the Attic_ sequel, which premiered with [3.4 million viewers](http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2014/05/27/lifetime-petals-on-the-wind-stirs-up-3-4-million-viewers-down-from-flowers-in-the-attic/267827/ "undefined") the following night. Watch TIME’s interview with Kitsch above. \[[_THR_](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/tv-ratings-hbos-normal-heart-707304 "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/120637/the-normal-heart-ratings/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/120637/the-normal-heart-ratings/"},"headline":"HBO's The Normal Heart Pulls in 1.4 Million Viewers","datePublished":"2014-05-27T21:09:50.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T08:04:10.051Z","description":"The project from Glee's Ryan Murphy is now the fifth-biggest debut of all HBO movies since 2010","url":"https://time.com/120637/the-normal-heart-ratings/","keywords":["Television","HBO"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt58d70e76a61a5f59/698690fcd0b6f25601304730/normalheart07.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Nolan Feeney","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt58d70e76a61a5f59/698690fcd0b6f25601304730/normalheart07.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"normalheart07","caption":"","creditText":"HBO","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/120637/the-normal-heart-ratings/","name":"HBO's The Normal Heart Pulls in 1.4 Million Viewers"}}]}] ```