Apple TV’s most anticipated new release this week is 12 12 12, a heist thriller starring Anthony Mackie and Jamie Dornan that premieres with two episodes on Friday, November 13. The eight-episode series will release new episodes every Friday through Christmas Day, according to Apple TV — a rollout that takes the show into the heart of the holiday season. The title refers to the show’s three timelines: the 12 months of planning, the 12 hours of the heist and the 12 days following it.
Mackie plays a disgraced FBI agent in hot pursuit of a career criminal, played by Dornan, who plans a daring raid on a bank vault deep beneath the streets of Zurich. The series is created by Dudi Appleton and Jim Keeble, with Kari Skogland directing multiple episodes including the pilot, according to Apple TV, and it is the week’s biggest new drama on a platform that is having a strong November — Nocturne is the number one show worldwide, Stick’s second season holds a perfect 100 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, and Brothers has just dropped its season one finale.
A heist in the holiday frame
The Friday premiere puts 12 12 12 directly into the busiest streaming weekend of the month, alongside the return of The Rings of Power on Prime Video on Wednesday and the second episode of The Institute on MGM+ on Sunday. Apple TV is betting that a star-led heist thriller, released weekly, can hold an audience through Christmas — and the two-episode premiere gives viewers a reason to start now rather than wait.
The show’s premise is classic heist territory: a career criminal, a vault that cannot be emptied, and an FBI agent closing in. What sets it apart is the cast — Mackie, fresh from his Marvel work, against Dornan, whose recent run has made him one of the most in-demand leading men in streaming — and the Swiss setting, which gives the show a different look from the usual American crime drama.
Apple TV’s crowded week
For Apple TV, 12 12 12 is the capstone of a November that has already delivered. Nocturne topped the global chart in two days. Stick returned with a perfect score. Brothers finished its first season. Awkwafina: The Unlikely Cook arrived on Friday. And on November 13, the platform’s most anticipated new release of the week drops its first two episodes. Whether 12 12 12 can match Nocturne’s chart-topping start is the question — but on paper, it has the cast, the premise and the slot to do it.
