Disney announces Obi-Wan Kenobi is officially the biggest Disney+ show premiere yet. Lucasfilm has played a major role in the success of Disney's streaming service from the very beginning. The Mandalorian's first episode was available when Disney+ launched in 2019 and became a huge success for the platform. The return of season 2 in 2020 once again proved the strength of the Star Wars brand on the small screen, especially since Marvel Studios had yet to release a single show.
Obi-Wan Kenobi became the third live-action Star Wars TV show to debut on Disney+ this past weekend following a special two-episode premiere. Picking up a decade after the events of Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith, Ewan McGregor returns to star in the highly anticipated series. Obi-Wan Kenobi's first two episodes followed the Jedi Master returning to action after Leia Organa was kidnapped. This brought him into conflict with Reva and the Inquisitors, who have been ordered by Darth Vader to find Kenobi and other surviving Jedi. The Obi-Wan Kenobi premiere coincided with Star Wars Celebration 2022.
Now just a few days after the first two episodes were released on Disney+, it has been confirmed that Obi-Wan Kenobi had the biggest Disney+ premiere to date. Disney didn't reveal any official figures for the show's viewership, but the announcement notes that the Star Wars show is the most-watched premiere globally for a Disney+ original show based on hours streamed in an opening weekend. Marvel Studios' Loki previously held the record for being the biggest Disney+ premiere, but the metrics used for Obi-Wan Kenobi seem to be different. However, it is still clear that the series beat The Mandalorian's premiere record.
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The confusion about what record Obi-Wan Kenobi's viewership broke comes from the release window for the series. Lucasfilm debuted the first two episodes on a Friday, which is the same day that The Mandalorian used to release on. Disney+ has since moved to Wednesdays to release new episodes of original shows, like Loki. So even though Loki had the biggest premiere day on Disney+ of any title last summer, Obi-Wan Kenobi now can claim a record viewing of its own thanks to the Friday release and Disney counting hours watched over the opening weekend (which can be even higher if Memorial Day is factored in).
In any case, it is hardly surprising to see Obi-Wan Kenobi have a record-setting premiere for Disney+. The excitement to see Ewan McGregor return to his Star Wars role gave the series plenty of built-in fans who were eager to see him again. The show also comes as Disney+'s subscriber base around the world continues to grow, as Disney reported the service had 138 million subscribers right before the series debuted. Now that Obi-Wan Kenobi has beaten The Mandalorian's opening weekend, it will be fascinating to see if Disney makes the shift back to Fridays for its Star Wars content — especially to avoid them debuting on the same day as future MCU shows.
Source: Star Wars