“Oppenheimer” has achieved the most-watched launch for a pay-one film in Peacock‘s history.
That puts it ahead of “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” which previously held the record for highest opening weekend viewership among films that landed on the streamer through its pay-one deal with Universal Pictures. An exact number of viewers, however, was not available for either film.
After Universal’s pay-one deal with HBO expired in 2021, parent company NBCUniversal opted to keep its films within the family and set up pay-one at its in-house streamer. Through the arrangement, Universal films have their streaming debuts on Peacock as early as four months after their theatrical releases, then stay there for four months before non-exclusively moving to other partners and eventually moving back to Peacock.
“Oppenheimer” arrived on Peacock on Feb. 16, roughly seven months after its July 21 theatrical release, while “Mario” had its pay-one Peacock debut on Aug. 3 of 2022 following an April 5 opening in theaters — meaning “Oppenheimer” viewers had to wait longer before tuning in on streaming.
The Christopher Nolan film was expected to draw in sizable streaming viewership, as it was one of 2023’s most acclaimed and commercially successful films, though this achievement is particularly significant when considering box office performance. Though “Oppenheimer” was a hit, reaching just under one billion dollars, it wasn’t able to beat “Mario’s $1.36 billion worldwide gross, while on streaming, the opposite was true.
“Oppenheimer” is currently considered a frontrunner for the 2024 Oscars, where it will be up for 13 awards including best picture, best director (Nolan), best actor (Cillian Murphy), best supporting actor (Robert Downey Jr.), best supporting actress (Emily Blunt) and best adapted screenplay.
