While Hulu has been in the streaming game for a while now and boasts a solid lineup of original TV shows, the platform only started assembling a collection of original feature films within the last year, with the latest offering on that front being Palm Springs. The time loop-centric romantic comedy has received a lot of positive critical reception since it was released last week, and now word’s come in that it’s also been breaking some records for Hulu.
The streaming company confirmed to IndieWire that Palm Springs broke Hulu’s opening weekend record by collecting more hours watched over its first three days of availability than any other movie on Hulu during that same period. Palm Springs also generated the “highest amount of social interest” for any Hulu movie yet over its premiere weekend, and was also the most-discussed original Hulu movie on Twitter over its first three days.
Clearly a lot of people have not only clicked play on Palm Springs, but have enjoyed it enough to comment about it on social media. And these are just the latest records the movie has broken. After Palm Springs premiered at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, Hulu and Neon acquired it for a little over $17.5 million, making it that festival’s biggest deal yet and beating out the previous holder of that title, 2016’s The Birth of a Nation.
All these records serve as yet another feather in Palm Springs’ proverbial cap. As mentioned earlier, the movie is a critical darling, with it currently ranking on Rotten Tomatoes at 92% among professional critics and boasting a 90% audience score. In addition to its Hulu drop, Palm Springs also played in approximately 66 theaters this past weekend and is estimated to have made around $164,000, according to Deadline.
It’s also worth noting that Palm Springs isn’t the only movie that’s made a splash on Hulu in recent months. While not a Hulu original, Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite, which scored four Academy Awards earlier this year (including Best Picture), debuted on the streaming service back in April and quickly became the #1 independent/international film to ever run on Hulu. Then, just one week after its release, Parasite became the second most-watched movie on Hulu among titles currently available to stream.
For those who haven’t seen Palm Springs yet, the movie stars Andy Samberg and Cristin Milioti as Nyles and Sarah, respectively, two strangers who meet at a wedding set at the eponymous location and end up getting stuck in a time loop together that forces them to repeat the same day over and over again, with Nyles having been caught in the loop for significantly longer. The movie’s cast also includes J.K. Simmons, Camila Mendes, Tyler Hoechlin and Meredith Hagner, among others.
Be sure to read CinemaBlend’s review of Palm Springs and check out our 2020 release schedule to learn what movies are supposed to arrive in theaters later this year.
