They sure did put a spell on us, for Hocus Pocus 2 officially became the most-streamed movie of the platform.
The film is a sequel to Hocus Pocus (1993) and was one of the most eagerly anticipated movies of 2022 before its release. Hocus Pocus 2 is now officially a runaway hit on streaming platform Disney+, becoming its most-watched movie ever and breaking a Nielsen record.
[Hero and featured image credit: Walt Disney Studios/Youtube]
Streaming record set by Hocus Pocus 2
According to Deadline, Hocus Pocus 2 set a record on Nielsen’s weekly chart for streaming minutes. The film clocked 2.7 billion viewing minutes from 26 September to 2 October. Deadline notes that since the film premiered on 30 September, only the first weekend counted towards the total.
The previous holder of the record was Disney’s Academy Award-winning animated feature film Encanto (2021), which recorded 2.2 billion minutes of viewing from 27 December 2021 to 2 January 2022.
The Nielsen data also reveals that about 21 percent of the viewers of Hocus Pocus 2 were from Hispanic homes. Interestingly, the phenomenal popularity of the sequel also led to a surge in viewing for the 1993 film. According to the Nielsen data, the original film recorded 774 million minutes of viewing.
What is the film about?
Hocus Pocus 2 is essentially a ‘legacy sequel’ — a term used for sequels that follow the original after a very long gap, which is usually more than a decade.
The story of Hocus Pocus 2 follows the three witches from the first film after they are accidentally brought back to Salem by teenagers conducting a seance.
The original film showed their backstory — how they were caught and executed in the 17th century for taking away the souls of children for eternal youth.
Hocus Pocus 2 stars Bette Midler, Kathy Najimy and Sarah Jessica Parker. They play three witch sisters named Winifred ‘Winnie’ Sanderson, Mary Sanderson and Sarah Sanderson, respectively. All three actors were part of the first film too.
The sequel, which also stars Sam Richardson, Whitney Peak, Belissa Escobedo and Lilia Buckingham, received mixed reviews from critics upon release.
Manas Sen Gupta
Manas Sen Gupta writes at the intersection of tech, entertainment and history. His works have appeared in publications such as The Statesman, Myanmar Matters, Hindustan Times and News18/ETV. In his spare time, Manas loves studying interactive charts and topographic maps. When not doing either, he prefers reading detective fiction. Spring is his favourite season and he can happily eat a bowl of noodles any time of the day.
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