Nielsen Says “Hocus Pocus 2” Is Disney’s Biggest Streaming Movie of All Time

October 27, 2022 ·

W. D. W. Pro

Once in a blue moon, or perhaps a hallowed eve, a movie comes out that dominates while few even recognizes its success. In 2022, that film has arrived.

I would have never guessed this one. Consider me finally stunned about something successful out of Disney.

Hocus Pocus 2, the sequel to a thirty-year-old niche holiday film, which was certainly not a well-crafted sequel or remarkable in any particular quality, has come out as a dominating force on Disney+. The movie which plays like a direct-to-DVD style escapade is so successful that it currently stands as the highest rated original movie, in terms of viewership, on Disney+ according to Nielsen. That is just bonkers.

Here’s what market analyst, Valliant Renegade, had to say about the sky-high Hocus Pocus 2 ratings in a private conversation:

Look at Hocus Pocus 2… 103 min runtime … 2.7B minutes. Compare that to Andor’s 123 mins runtime for its premiere week with only 465 watch time. Disney Plus is propped up almost exclusively by these original kids/family films. Marvel and SW shows not even close to 1B min per week even when they load the box with multiple episodes.

Hocus Pocus 2’s viewership is just stunning. Though it is bested by Dahmer for the week — another cultural phenomenon — this has to be considered a huge win for Disney+. It also goes without saying (though I’ll say it) that this will definitely influence the direction of Disney’s productions going forward. The budget for Hocus Pocus 2 was $40 million… one fifth of Pixar’s latest film, Lightyear. Buzz bombed but the Sanderson Sisters are sizzling hot with a presumed continuance of awesome ratings goin right through Halloween.

Hocus Pocus 2 Easter egg pic.twitter.com/3VkMJwXS3d

— Hollywood Horror Museum (@horrormuseum) October 6, 2022

I’d put the chances of more Hocus Pocus very high. I’d also put the chances of similar, formulaic movies at 101%. Maybe 102%.

Elsewhere in Nielsen, Andor continues to do decent numbers but nothing special. She-Hulk is a flop. Rings of Power and House of the Dragon look even but they’re not — House of the Dragon has a split premiere with HBO on cable, meaning that Rings of Power is being beaten soundly. Also, on a sad note, both Bluey and Stranger Things were finally knocked off of the top ten charts. They’ve had incredible runs: expect to see them again in the future.

1	Netflix	Dahmer (2022)	4,370
2	Disney+	Hocus Pocus 2	2,725
3	Prime Video	The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power	966
4	HBO Max	House Of The Dragon	907
5	Netflix	Lou (2022)	802
6	Netflix	Cocomelon	782
7	Disney+	Hocus Pocus	774
8	Netflix	NCIS	748
9	Netflix	In The Dark	665
10	Netflix	Cobra Kai	653

— Nielsen

Oh, and one more thing. Hocus Pocus 2 also lifted the original movie, nearly thirty years later, into the Overall Top Ten. That didn’t cost Disney a dime. So if you’ve been waiting for me to heap praise on Disney for an unmitigated success, wait no more. I’m just shocked it came from Hocus Pocus of all places.

Suddenly the next Tim Allen Santa Claus movie is looking like a freaking gold mine.

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Author: W. D. W. Pro

Founder, Publisher, CEO WDW Pro is an opinionated commentator on all things Disney and Entertainment. He runs one of the most-viewed pop culture news channels on YouTube with many millions of views every month. First becoming well-known on WDWMagic.com, the author was brought on to work at Pirates and Princesses. Pro has previously released exclusive details on a variety of rumors and leaks before they were made public. Some exclusives have included breaking info on new Epcot attractions, detailing the light saber experience at the Star Wars hotel, reporting a Harrison Ford injury severity before anyone else, revealing Hugh Jackman was coming to the MCU, Storm would be linked with Wakanda and more. WDW Pro has written articles viewed by millions of readers while maintaining an 87% accuracy rating for revealing "insider" information in 2020. In 2021, the author had a better than 90% accuracy on reported leaks and rumors. Pro joined That Park Place on June 22nd, 2021. The author's accolades include being featured on The Daily Wire, cited by Timcast, numerous references by YouTube personalities, as well as having material tweeted by Dr. Jordan Peterson. WDW Pro is honored, and grateful, while hoping to make the world a better place. In 2023, a third party audit found Pro's accuracy for rumors and scoops to be 92.5%. SOCIAL MEDIA: X: http://x.com/wdwpro1 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@WDW_Pro EMAIL: wdwpro@thatparkplace.com