‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ Dominates on Streaming
The Walt Disney Company had big plans for streaming during the final quarter of 2024.
Disney+ loaded its service with premiere content including a Marvel series, a Star Wars series, and the top two films of 2024.
Walt Disney Company
We’ve now gotten the results for three of the four, and it’s clear that the company is in much better shape than a year ago.
The latest confirmation stems from the debut of a Marvel movie. Yes, Deadpool & Wolverine is dominating on streaming.
Deadpool 3 Excels
Getty
I’m part of a longstanding movie community that (seriously) dates back to the 1990s.
The other day, we were debating which comic book movie provided better fan service: Avengers: Endgame or Spider-Man: No Way Home.
(Photo by VALERIE MACON / AFP) (Photo by VALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty Images)
Sony stacked the deck on the third Spider-Man movie by bringing three cinematic Peter Parkers together onscreen.
This decision led to unforgettable, charming moments like this one:
But Endgame features a moment that’s impossible to top. You know the one I mean:
I think the fans liked that, don’t you? Well, a friend introduced a third option, which was Deadpool & Wolverine. Here’s their point:
That’s a LOT of stupendous crowd reactions sprinkled throughout the charming film. And that’s the point.
Photo: IMDB
By definition, Deadpool & Wolverine is a crowd-pleaser, which explains why it has become the most successful Deadpool film ever.
In fact, the movie performed so well at the box office that Disney promptly indicated that Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman would return.
Photo: Marvel
They went from persona non grata in the MCU to anchor players in future Avengers films.
That’s a tribute to the glowing reception to the third Deadpool movie, which gave fans exactly what they wanted.
Photo: Marvel
Real-life BFFs Jackman and Reynolds spent the awkward early months of Jackman’s divorce holed up together spitballing ideas.
The movie came together quickly despite the Hollywood strikes stopping production. And fans loved the outcome.
Photo: Marvel
Disney has known for a while that this project was tracking to be a huge blockbuster, but I doubt anyone expected it to nearly double Deadpool 2.
Deadpool 3 Debuts on Streaming
Photo: English Jargon
On November 12th, Deadpool & Wolverine finally made its much-anticipated debut on Disney+.
Four weeks later, we know how well it did thanks to the Nielsen Streaming Charts for the week of November 11th-November 17th.
Photo: Marvel
While Deadpool 3 wasn’t available for the entire week, its debut covers five and a half days on the charts.
For that timeframe, the film enticed 1.342 million viewer minutes, making it the second-most-watched program for the week.
Photo: Marvel
Deadpool 3 missed first place by a fractional 24 million viewer minutes as Amazon Prime Video’s Cross finished in first.
For Disney+, this total represents a solid win, albeit one that doesn’t quite match Inside Out 2.
Image: The Wall Street Journal
As a reminder, that film debuted on streaming with 1.818 million viewer minutes.
However, you shouldn’t be surprised that Inside Out 2 performed better. After all, the film earned much more at the box office as well.
This Inside Out concept art features Shame standing next to Anxiety. Photo: Reddit
Inside Out 2 is currently and likely to remain the biggest blockbuster of the year in global revenue.
Deadpool & Wolverine earned about $1.34 billion, while Inside Out 2 is hovering at $1.7 billion.
Image: Pixar
But there’s a second race that’s yet to be run. While Inside Out 2 charted last week, it’s not here this time.
Deadpool could feasibly hang around the charts long if it gets enough rewatches.
I’m dubious that this will happen with an MCU title, as they tend to come and go fairly quickly on the charts.
But the fan service nature of D&W could make it the exception to this rule. It’s the story we’ll track in coming weeks.
Disney’s Other Streaming Hits
Families Streaming Disney+
As has become the norm, Disney’s streaming services enjoyed another excellent week on the charts.
At this point, Disney’s loyal user bases on Hulu and Disney+ watch and rewatch content so much it negates Netflix’s natural advantages.
Photo: Disney
Overall, Disney programs claimed 60 percent of the top ten. Other than Deadpool, you should be able to guess several titles.
Family Guy earned an impressive 970 million viewer minutes, while Bob’s Burgers slotted right behind it at 968 million.
FOX
Grey’s Anatomy also enjoyed one of its better recent weeks with 926 million viewer minutes.
So, this dropped the ever-reliable Bluey to seventh place, even though it had a solid 919 million viewer minutes.
Photo: Bluey.tv
From the meta perspective, a year ago, Disney would have been thrilled to have any other program than Bluey at that level.
That’s how much the platforms have gained in just 12 months.
Photo: Ludo Studios
Lost also managed 854 million viewer minutes, while Gossip Girl hung around with 654 million.
Hulu has also started getting credit for NCIS, which had 558 million viewer minutes across three different streaming services.
Photo: Getty Images/Ringer illustration
I’d honestly forgotten that some of the early seasons are still available on Hulu. So, if you love Jethro Gibbs, there you go!
Disney didn’t have anything on the Originals chart this time, as Only Murders in the Building and Agatha All Along dropped off.
Photo: Disney
However, on the Movies chart, there’s a story to track. Moana’s surge has started with 311 million viewer minutes.
That’s all the people pre-gaming for Moana 2 in mid-November!
Tune back next week, as we’ll track plenty more of that.
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