(Bloomberg) -- The superhero sequel “Wonder Woman 1984” outpaced all other streaming programming in U.S. viewership when it made its Christmas debut on HBO Max, research firm Nielsen said.
Marketed with the shorthand title “WW84,” the Gal Gadot vehicle was a key test case for an unusual release strategy from AT&T Inc.'s WarnerMedia: premiering movies from its Warner Bros. studio on the HBO Max streaming platform at the same time they debut in theaters. With cinema attendance still decimated by pandemic restrictions, WarnerMedia plans to follow that course with all of its 2021 films.
Released on Christmas Day, “WW84” drew 2.25 billion minutes of viewing during the week of Dec. 21-27, Nielsen said Friday. The No. 2 streaming program of the week, the new Pixar animated movie “Soul” on Walt Disney Co.'s Disney+ service, attracted 1.67 billion minutes, the firm said.
However, the films' running times may have accounted for some of the “WW84” outperformance. Viewers could have watched all of the 155-minute “WW84” 14.5 million times, while the 107-minute “Soul” could have been watched 15.6 million times.
Ranking third were episodes of the sitcom “The Office,” then shown on Netflix Inc., the world's most popular streaming outlet. Comcast Corp.'s NBCUniversal bought the rights to “The Office” to boost its new streaming service Peacock, where the show moved as of Jan. 1.
Rounding out Nielsen's top five were two other Netflix offerings. The soapy Shonda Rhimes historical series “Bridgerton” had 1.2 billion minutes of viewing, and the George Clooney sci-fi film “The Midnight Sky” drew 1.11 billion minutes.
Nielsen has been releasing viewership data for Netflix, Disney+, Disney's Hulu and Amazon.com Inc.'s Prime Video but hasn't previously tracked HBO Max. The firm said the “WW84” figures are a one-time preview as it works with WarnerMedia toward regular public releases of HBO Max data.
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