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‘Hocus Pocus 2’ Delivers Double Win for Disney+ on This Week’s Streaming Movie Ranker | Charts

It might be time for Disney to pencil in “Hocus Pocus 3” on its production calendar already. And based on how “How Pocus 2” performed for Disney+ in its debut weekend, there probably won’t be a 29-year gap between movies, either.

“Hocus Pocus 2,” the sequel to the 1993 comedy-fantasy classic, was the most streamed movie in the U.S. last weekend, according to Whip Media’s movie ranker —  which reflects data from TV Time, a television and movie app that tracks viewer interest across 22 million global registered users.

And not only did the flick — which saw Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy reprise their roles from the first film — take the top spot in Whip Media’s rankings, it also helped push “Hocus Pocus” into second place for the weekend.

10 most-watched movies on streaming, Sept. 30-Oct. 2, 2022, U.S. (Whip Media)
10 most-watched movies on streaming, Sept. 30-Oct. 2, 2022, U.S. (Whip Media)

It’s worth noting this is a trend — remakes and sequels propelling older films in a franchise to a second life on streaming — that’s become more common in recent years. This was evident last summer, when “Top Gun” spent weeks in Whip Media’s top 10 on the momentum of “Top Gun: Maverick,” and the first “Jurassic Park” also performed remarkably well for HBO Max in the lead-up to the June release of “Jurassic World Dominion.”

But back to “Hocus Pocus 2.” Earlier this week, Disney announced the movie had enjoyed its biggest domestic debut to date for an original movie on Disney+, based on the number of hours it was streamed in its first three days. And its performance on Whip Media’s weekly ranker certainly reinforces that claim.

Still, that might make you wonder how it stacks up against other notable original movie releases to debut on streaming this year. Incredibly well, it turns out. In fact, “Hocus Pocus 2” was the top viewed streaming original film of 2022, according to new viewer data from Whip Media.

10 most-watched original movies on streaming, 2022, U.S. (Whip Media)
10 most-watched original movies on streaming, 2022, U.S. (Whip Media)

When compared to the U.S. performances of other big releases, including Netflix’s “The Gray Man” and Hulu’s “Prey,” “Hocus Pocus 2” pulled in the most views in its first three days post-release.

Interestingly, “Hocus Pocus 2” is the only Disney+ movie to make the list. It jumped ahead of “The Adam Project” on Netflix — one of six Netflix films to make the top 10. “Luck” on Apple TV+ and “Moonshot” on HBO Max were the lone representatives for their respective services as well.

The big debut for “Hocus Pocus 2” makes the words of Vinessa Shaw, who starred as Max’s crush Allison in the original film, look prophetic. In a recent interview with TheWrap, Shaw said she wasn’t worried about the sequel having a rocky opening weekend like the original movie did in ‘93:

There’s really no nervousness for me at all because, you know, everyone loves the original, and they love these characters,” Shaw said. “So they’re ready to see them again, and again, and again, and again! If it’s not the original, then they’ll see the sequel, and they’ll go back to the original.”

It turns out, it looks like plenty of viewers did watch the sequel and the original this past week.

Sean Burch is a marketing insights analyst at Whip Media, a WrapPRO partner. Click here for more from Whip Media.

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