The theatrical industry is still struggling to get back off the canvas having been knocked down by the Coronavirus pandemic, but streaming services are positively booming, despite the marketplace becoming more crowded and competitive than ever before.
Over the last twelve months, we’ve seen Peacock, HBO Max and most recently Paramount+ enter the fray, while Netflix have sailed past 200 million subscribers as Disney Plus closes in on 100 million customers after less than eighteen months in existence and three years ahead of schedule. Not to mention that viewership records are being broken left and right.
On that note, Amazon are now touting that Eddie Murphy’s Coming 2 America has scored the biggest digital premiere of the COVID-19 era, although the platform hasn’t released specific numbers to accompany the press release. That being said, they wouldn’t have announced the news if they weren’t confident that the comedy sequel has performed above expectations, which is just as well given that that the company shelled out a reported $125 million to acquire it from Paramount.
Coming 2 America is said to have comfortably out-performed last weekend’s other big streaming releases as well, which is hardly a surprise when Paramount+’s The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run has been available internationally on Netflix for months, and Disney Plus’ Raya and the Last Dragon was locked behind the $30 Premier Access paywall.
Amazon previously touted that Borat Subsequent Moviefilm had racked up the second biggest digital debut of 2020, but failed to provide the exact data back then, too. However, as a sequel over 30 years in the making that came armed with high expectations and a huge built-in following, it’s hardly a surprise to discover that Coming 2 America was at the top of everyone’s watch list.
Published: Mar 9, 2021 08:27 am