“Hocus Pocus 2” has received a slew of viewership on Disney+, with Disney boasting it was the streaming platform’s top film premiere to date. The sequel has outperformed original film releases on Netflix, Hulu and other services, new data from Whip Media suggests.
“Hocus Pocus 2” attained the most views for a streaming original film in 2022, according to Whip Media, beating Netflix movie hits like “The Adam Project” and “The Gray Man.”
The sequel, which saw the Sanderson sister witches return nearly 30 years after the original movie’s premiere, debuted on Disney+ on September 30. Further promoting the release, Disney will be screening both “Hocus Pocus” and “Hocus Pocus 2” this Friday evening at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery – part of Disney+’s Hallowstream celebration.
“The Adam Project” and “The Gray Man” came in second and third place, respectively, in Whip Media’s analysis of the top 10 most watched original streaming movies. When compiling the list, Whip Media counted U.S. viewership for the first three days after a film premiered on streaming, while noting if it had a limited theatrical release.
“The Gray Man,” a spy thriller starring Ryan Gosling, drew 88.5 million hours viewed the week of July 18. Following the movie’s performance, Netflix said it wants “The Gray Man” to become “a major spy franchise,” announcing a sequel and spin-off film are in the works.
Though Whip Media’s ranking mostly consisted of Netflix titles, like “Do Revenge,” “Day Shift,” “Purple Hearts” and “Persuasion,” a few other movies made the top 10 cut.
Hulu’s “Prey,” which in August got the top premiere spot among both film and TV show releases on the platform, came in fourth place. Rounding out the list were Apple TV+’s “Luck” and HBO Max’s “Moonshot,” taking the ninth and tenth place spots.
As the distribution landscape keeps expanding, streaming services are taking different approaches to movie releases to bolster viewership. Netflix announced Thursday that “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” will debut in theaters from November 23-29, followed by its streaming premiere on December 23.
Paramount’s “Top Gun: Maverick” is also taking advantage of the box office. The movie is currently still playing in theaters, with no word yet as to when it’ll be available to stream on Paramount+.