EXCLUSIVE: Amazon Prime Video’s series adaptation of Robert Jordan’s best-selling The Wheel Of Time fantasy novels has come out of the gate strong.

“We can firmly say that Wheel of Time was the most watched series premiere of the year and one of the Top 5 series launches of all time for Prime Video,” Amazon Studios head Jennifer Salke told Deadline about the debut, acknowledging that the company — like most streamers  — “try to figure out how transparent we are going to be in the future” with ratings.

Additionally, according to third party TV-I, The Wheel of Time was the #1 series on social across all releases last weekend and is the biggest Amazon Original series on social this year.

Parrot Analytics earlier this month released data showing The Wheel Of Time outpacing other recent new fantasy series, including Netflix’s hit The Witcher, in global pre-release demand, projecting that The Wheel of Time could have Prime Video’s biggest opening since the Season 2 premieres of The Boys in October 2020 and Indian original Mirzapur in November 2020.

(Both The Wheel of Time and The Boys come from Sony Pictures Television, which co-produces them with Amazon Studios.).

Salke would not disclose further viewership information about The Wheel Of Time premiere but said that “it’s definitely trending to exceed our expectations which were high.”.

The Wheel Of Time‘s successful launch, for which Salke also gave credit to Amazon Studios’ marketing and publicity teams, comes after a challenging year for Prime Video — and for virtually any linear and streaming networks whose content pipelines were affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

While movies like these as well as The Tomorrow War and Cinderella “kept our customers very much engaged on the service,” “I think we’ve all been looking forward to Wheel Of Time being the next big tentpole that we could get up on the service while we are still in this pandemic,” Salke said.

The Wheel of Time was renewed for a second season in May, months ahead of its series premiere

The Wheel of Time is co-produced by Amazon Studios and Sony Pictures TV