In The Heights: Samba TV reports film had a slow start on HBO Max

June 17th 2021, 11:10am

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

It looks like HBO Max isn't to blame for In The Heights underperforming at the box office, at least according to Samba TV. The company reports that 693,000 U.S. households watched the Lin-Manuel Miranda movie musical adaptation in their live+3 day window.

The viewership total trails in comparison to other Warner Bros. movies that hit HBO Max and theaters simultaneously. Mortal Kombat did 3.8 million households in 3 days, Godzilla Vs. Kong pulled in 3.6 million households in 3 days, Wonder Woman 1984 did 2.6 million households in 3 days while The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It scared up 1.6 million households in 3 days. All of those films also had better opening weekends at the box office as In The Heights debuted to a soft $11.5 million while all of those films cleared $20 million during their weekends.

Samba TV measures those who tuned in for at least five minutes in 3 million households that have terrestrial smart TVs. They do not include mobile viewers, but they are the best measurement in the market since streamers stay quiet on their numbers. Warner Bros. President of domestic theatrical distribution Jeff Goldstein told the "Associated Press" that whenever these Warner Bros. movies hit at the box office, they often equally translate as well in viewers on HBO Max. He also stated that when they don't, they hit low levels on HBO Max. According to him, they're very comparable.

While 40% of Latin audiences showed up for the film over the weekend, it's also interesting that it didn't over-index in Hispanic theaters in Southern California or Texas like the third Conjuring film did. That would've helped a lot in those markets in terms of the film's box office and it is an indicator that the film simply didn't expand beyond the hardcore fanbase of the musical.

Samba TV also observes that In The Heights' HBO Max audience skewed pretty affluent ($100K and above). The film also over-indexed on the service in San Francisco at 107% and was followed by NYC at 72%, where the subject of the film takes place.

Are YOU surprised In The Heights had a slow start on HBO Max?