Prey becomes biggest ever Hulu launch

Prey

Prey, the spin-off prequel to the iconic Predator franchise, has become streaming service Hulu’s biggest ever premiere the streamer has said.

The movie, which has received near universal praise, had a bigger aggregate viewing time over its first three days than any title ever launched on the Disney-owned streaming platform. It beat out previous record holder The Kardashians, which Hulu previously revealed as its biggest TV series premiere in April.

20th Century Studios, acquired by Disney as part of its US$71 billion Fox acquisition, raised eyebrows over its decision to forgo a traditional theatrical release for what looked set to be one of the hits of the summer. However, the viewing figures on Hulu have proved success enough for Disney, while the company also said that it was the most-watched film premiere on Star+ in Latin America and on Disney+’s Star hub in markets such as the UK and France. 

Absent from Hulu’s reporting however is specific viewing numbers, with Disney particularly selective over which figures it releases. In June, the company said that Star Wars series Obi-Wan Kenobi was Disney+’s most successful premiere to date with TV tech firm Samba TV estimated that its first episode was watched by 2.14 million US households during its first three days.

Netflix meanwhile has revealed that its eagerly anticipated adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s iconic comic series The Sandman was watched for 69,480,000 hours between its launch on August 5 and August 7, with the title being in its Top 10 across 89 countries, including first place in the US, UK, Italy and France.

The topic of streaming viewing metrics was recently highlighted by Hollywood star Ben Stiller, who revealed his frustration at his inability to secure statistics for Apple TV+ breakout series Severance.