Amazon has chosen an unexpected method for discussing the weekend viewership of the long-awaited comedy sequel “Coming 2 America”.
Rather than touting their own numbers, which most streamers do, they’ve opted to point people towards a third-party group – The Digital Entertainment Group/Screen Engine/ASI who do weekly VOD rankings.
As a result, Amazon is claiming that the Eddie Murphy-led comedy sequel had the No. 1 opening weekend of any streaming movie in 2021 so far, and the No. 1 weekend of any streaming movie in the past year in the wake of the pandemic (including “Wonder Woman 1984”).
It also beat out the first-weekend stream of “The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run” over on the Paramount+ service. Amazon isn’t announcing how many viewers tuned in, different from the likes of Netflix who will tout their own numbers.
Amazon talked slightly more numbers following the release of “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm” back in October, claiming that “tens of millions watched”.
Jennifer Salke, Head of Amazon Studios, said in a statement: “The premiere of Coming 2 America has far exceeded any of our wildest expectations. It’s clear an entirely new generation of fans have joined the enormous loyal fanbase.”
Reviews for the film remain very mixed – the movie relies heavily on nostalgia and comfort, playing it safe at every turn. “Coming 2 America” is now streaming worldwide on Amazon Prime.
Source: IGN