Don’t underestimate Jennifer Lopez and the power of the romantic comedy. Marry Me might not seem like it made much of a dent during its box office run that began the weekend heading into Valentine’s Day but the film was also a day-and-date experiment for Universal Pictures which saw it also debut on streaming via Peacock the day it opened in theaters. This release strategy hasn’t worked for all of the films that have tried it but it certainly worked for Marry Me, at least according to Peacock.
According to Comcast CEO and chairman Brian Roberts, Marry Me is the most-streamed day-and-date movie on Peacock. When speaking during a Morgan Stanley conference on Monday, Roberts said “We launched a movie on Valentine’s Day, Marry Me, [which is] day-and-date the most-streamed movie we’ve had.” Roberts didn’t provide any viewership data but this is typical of all the streaming services so we will have to take their word for it!
Peacock previously went day-and-date with the release of Halloween Kills and The Boss Baby: Family Business. The streamer claimed success for those films as well so maybe this is a strategy that is working for them in regard to some of their releases. Universal Pictures, per Variety, plans to make several of this year’s upcoming films available on Peacock 45 days after making their big-screen debut.
Marry Me hit Peacock and theaters the weekend heading into Valentine’s Day and opened to a soft $8 million. Many felt the opening was muted because of its availability on Peacock so it was speculated, at the time, that the film had a successful launch on the service. To date, Marry Me has grossed $21.4 million domestically and $47 million worldwide on a $23 million budget so it has turned into a quiet success for the studio.
Are YOU surprised Marry Me did well on Peacock?