Wonder Woman 1984 basically doubled HBO Max activations
By Ariba Bhuvad
Wonder Woman 1984 dared to go where no other superhero/comic movie did during this pandemic by releasing not only in movie theaters but also on a streaming service, HBO Max, at the same time. It was a ballsy move on WarnerMedia’s part in an atmosphere when a lot of studios were delaying their movies (Black Widow, No Time To Die) or else releasing them on streaming for an extra fee (Mulan).
Wonder Woman 1984 ended up receiving mixed reviews, but it did what WarnerMedia wanted it to do and secured a lot of new subscribers for HBO Max, nearly doubling activations according to the company’s latest quarterly report. Back in September, it was reported that HBO Max had around 8.6 million signups, but fast forward to the end of December and they were clocking in at about 17.2 million accounts.
But let’s take a moment to talk about what “activations” actually means. HBO Max’s biggest competitors are Netflix and Disney+, where you pay a subscription fee and get access. You can do that for HBO Max too, but there are also lots of people who technically have access to the service because they pay for a regular HBO subscription but aren’t taking advantage of it, whether because they don’t know or don’t care. So while the number of subscriptions may have doubled, that doesn’t necessarily mean double the revenue; for all we know, it could just mean that people who had access to HBO Max anyway finally decided to use the app and make an account.
Is Wonder Woman 1984 just the start?
That said, it does look like more people are getting interested in HBO Max, with Wonder Woman 1984 setting off the latest wave. And it’s just the beginning of WarnerMedia’s plans.
This year, all of the studio’s movies will release in theaters and on HBO Max on the same day. So if Wonder Woman 1984 drove subscriptions, similar upticks might happen for movies like Mortal Kombat, Dune, Space Jam: A New Legacy and many more.
My guess? By the end of 2021 HBO Max will be a lot more competitive. Let the streaming wars continue!
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h/t CNET