Power Book IV: Force, the third spin-off from executive producer Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson‘s Power franchise, scored big ratings for Starz. 

The Hollywood Reporter notes the show’s debut Sunday night, centering on Joseph Secura‘s Tommy, scored 3.3 million viewers — the biggest numbers ever for the cable network. 

50 tells ABC Audio that he always had faith in launching a franchise — even when Starz initially passed on the first show. Re-working the music and adding his own, changed the network execs’ minds.

“Once you have the hit, it’s easy to kind of massage the idea of more of it,” 50 says. “And I’m saying, what you need is to convince them that the Universe will work.”

And, “it’s working,” Jackson says of the original show, and its first three spin-offs Book II: Ghost, and Book III: Raising Kanan. He adds with a laugh, “You know, they looking at it going, number-one, number-two and number-three [shows] in African-American and Latino households!”

Shane Harper, who plays Vic, notes, “When you go online, you see the fans reactions, and you see…you know, the millions and millions of views and the like 100 percent approval rating. You know, you look at the trailer, and it’s like…15,000 thumbs up, zero thumbs down. That’s the kind of show that we’re on, and we’re on the ‘Tommy Show’, and that’s like the most exciting part about it.”

For Gabrielle Ryan, who plays Gloria, “It’s definitely a dream to be part of this, and to be part of this Power Universe, you know, it’s a cultural phenomenon. 50 Cent and [co-producers] Courtney Kemp and Mike Canton have created is just amazing, and to be part of it, especially the Tommy spinoff, is just it’s surreal.”