What do you know Top Gun Maverick has logged the biggest premier weekend ever seen on Paramount+. It should come as no surprise that the top movie of the 2022 box office, which also became the top movie on-demand is the top movie premiere in Paramount+ history. After all, it is not like its a long history. But the announcement does show that the studio’s strategy of giving the film a long theatrical run and then rolling it out on demand to make more money was the right move instead of shifting it almost immediately to its streaming platform in a bid to get subscribers. The streaming world has been going back and forth about whether it was better to drive subscribers to their services with short theatrical windows like Warner Brothers (which went as far as putting a year’s worth of films directly onto HBO Max) is a good long-term strategy or not.
“The runaway success of this film across theatrical, digital and now in streaming is an undeniable proof point demonstrating the power of Paramount’s multi-platform release strategy,” Brian Robbins, chief content officer of movies at Paramount+, said in a statement touting the company milestone. “Across all our 2022 titles, and now with ‘Top Gun: Maverick,’ our studio has unlocked the value of variable windowing that streaming provides to augment a film’s overall success.”
Paramount+ is part of a wide streaming strategy that has been evolving since the launch of its predecessor CBS All Access. The service offers two tiers of streaming access including an ad-supported and ad-free version that also includes access to local CBS channels based on the market of the subscriber. The company also offers Showtime as a direct-to-consumer option as well as the completely free Pluto TV.
