“Jungle Cruise” Exceeds $30M in Disney+ Premier Access Sales During Opening Weekend

Following the debut of Marvel's Black Widow, which did over $60M in Premier Access sales – Disney says their latest release, “Jungle Cruise” did over $30M in Disney+ Premier Access consumer spend globally.

In total, Disney’s Jungle Cruise, which stars Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson and Emily Blunt, opened to an estimated total of more than $90M globally, including $34.2M in domestic box office, $27.6M in international box office, and the $30M in Premier Access sales.

“Jungle Cruise is the perfect summer adventure film, bringing a beloved theme park attraction to both the big screen and living rooms in a way that only Disney can. We remain focused on offering consumer choice during these unprecedented times, and it is clear that fans and families value the ability to make decisions on how they prefer to enjoy Disney’s best-in-class storytelling.”

This is only the second time Disney has released any data on how much customers have spent on Premier Access.

During their Earnings Call in May, Disney CEO Bob Chapek explained that Premier Access exists, in part, to provide a viewing option to audiences who may not feel comfortable seeing a movie in a theater. The company currently doesn’t have any other titles slated to be released on Premier Access.

Prior to these recent reveals, it wasn’t clear how successful Premier Access has been.

While Disney+ has been on a remarkable run past 100 million subscribers, Analytics firm Antenna tracked the performance of the latest extra-fee release on the platform: “Raya and the Last Dragon.”

Antenna notes that “Raya” pulled in 20% fewer PVOD purchases than “Mulan” in its opening weekend. But it is important to note that “Mulan” never got a theatrical run, while “Raya” opened in theaters on the same date it was available on Disney+. “Raya” also didn’t benefit the service with a boost to regular Disney+ subscriptions, which fell 30% from the week prior.

The biggest Disney+ theatrical release was the July 2020 premiere of “Hamilton,” but that was available to all subscribers. Its success may have inspired the Premier Access plan, which was first available for “Mulan.” But the “Mulan” release only drew a fraction of “Hamilton’s” new subscribers.

Part of the problem may be that these Premier Access titles are available to regular Disney+ subscribers who are willing to wait three months for the films to be included in the regular subscription price. For a remake like “Mulan” or an original film not based on a pre-existing property like “Raya,” the wait appears not to bother Disney+ subscribers. But it’s clear, that with a big tentpole, like “Jungle Cruise” and “Black Widow”, there is huge demand to stream it from home.