Wonder Woman 1984 sets feature film streaming record

HBO Max officially notched a big win on a risky move. According to The Hollywood Reporter’s breakdown of the Nielsen weekly streaming rankings from the week of December 21-27, Wonder Woman 1984 set a record for feature film streaming since Nielsen started collecting streaming ratings in August 2020.

Wonder Woman 1984 topped the rankings in the week of its launch with 2.25 billion minutes streamed, or roughly 14.9 million views of the film. It’s the highest number of minutes streamed for a feature film to date, beating out Disney+ release Soul by 580 million, and its 2.25 billion streaming minutes place it at the third highest total thus far.

Until fairly recently, Netflix has dominated streaming rankings and it wasn’t until the week of December 14 that Disney+ took the top spot for the first time ever with The Mandalorian.

The movement in the latest rankings not only confirms that HBO Max’s gamble paid off, but it also provides some support for Warner Bros’ plan to release all new movies in 2021 on the streaming service on HBO Max and in theaters (where available) on the same day.

Though the experience of seeing a blockbuster movie at home isn’t the same as seeing it in a theater, it helps HBO Max and Warner Bros executives to see that the dual release plan is a solid one in a landscape that’s full of uncertainty.

Wonder Woman 1984 Sets Streaming Record During Release Week

Here’s how the streaming ratings break down for the week of Dec. 21-27, measured in streaming minutes viewed:

1. Wonder Woman 1984 (HBO Max) 2.25 billion minutes viewed
2. Soul (Disney+) 1.67 billion
3. The Office (Netflix) 1.2 billion
4. Bridgerton (Netflix) 1.2 billion
5. The Midnight Sky (Netflix) 1.11 billion
6. The Mandalorian (Disney+) 1.02 billion
7. How the Grinch Stole Christmas (Netflix) 705 million
8. The Crown (Netflix) 700 million
9. Grey’s Anatomy (Netflix) 691 million
10. The Christmas Chronicles: Part Two (Netflix) 660 million

It’s with noting that WW84 beat out perennial streaming favorite The Office in its final days on Netflix. It also gave HBO Max, which has about 37.7 million subscribers, a big win over more established streamers like Netflix (203.7 million subscribers globally) and Disney+ (86.8 million global users).

Though Wonder Woman 1984 hasn’t been able to flex its muscles in theaters, the Nielsen numbers give the movie a lot of clout and will help future features being released under the same model. Studios can release big movies knowing that the audiences continue to consume the content no matter how it is released.