The biggest hit movies on HBO Max in 2021 that came out as part of Warner Bros. simultaneous release strategy
Travis Clark
- Warner Bros. released all of its movies this year simultaneously in theaters and on HBO Max.
- Insider ranked each release by their opening weekend viewership on Max, according to data from the TV measurement firm Samba TV.
- The data accounts for Thursday through Sunday viewership unless otherwise noted.
- Samba TV counts a view if a household watched at least five minutes of the movie, and the data is limited to connected-TV devices in the US, such as Roku and gaming consoles.
- But the data gives solid points of comparison for each movie's performance (Samba TV couldn't provide data for "Reminiscence").
15. "Judas and the Black Messiah"
Released: February 12
Max opening weekend viewership: 653,000 households
US box office: $5.4 million
Global box office: $6.8 million (No. 15)
Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 96%
What critics said: "Judas and the Black Messiah can't do everything. What it accomplishes is nevertheless quite something. It is a bittersweet compliment to what's here that we end the film wishing it'd done even more." — Rolling Stone
14. "In the Heights"
Released: June 11
Max opening weekend viewership: 693,000 households
US box office: $29.9 million
Global box office: $$43.9 million (No. 8)
Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 94%
What critics said: "Jon M. Chu and Lin-Manuel Miranda's musical now stands as a celebration of [the] community's remarkable perseverance." — The Ringer
13. "Cry Macho"
Released: September 17
Max opening weekend viewership: 693,000 households (Friday through Sunday)
US box office: $10.3 million
Global box office: $14.3 million (No. 13)
Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 57%
What critics said: "As a director, Eastwood keeps his tone almost primordially simple; not for Macho are the murky moral calculations and defined character arcs of The Unforgiven, American Sniper, or even Gran Torino." — Entertainment Weekly
12. "King Richard"
Released: November 19
Max opening weekend viewership: 707,000 households (Friday through Sunday)
US box office: $14.3 million
Global box office: $24.8 million (No. 11)
Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 91%
What critics said: "Green's King Richard isn't a great movie, but it doesn't need to be when the characters are this warm, and its message is so earnest." — Polygon
11. "Malignant"
Released: September 10
Max opening weekend viewership: 933,000 households
US box office: $13.4 million
Global box office: $34 million (No. 9)
Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 76%
What critics said: "None of this is especially scary, but, if you're patient, Wan delivers the kind of hilariously sick climax that only a sadist would spoil." — New York Times
10. "The Many Saints of Newark"
Released: October 1
Max opening weekend viewership: 1 million households
US box office: $8.2 million
Global box office: $12.7 million (No. 14)
Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 71%
What critics said: "The movie was, to borrow an image from the 'Pine Barrens' episode, like sucking ketchup packets." — Boston Globe
9. (tie) "Those Who Wish Me Dead"
Released: May 14
Max opening weekend viewership: 1.2 million households
US box office: $7.3 million
Global box office: $23.4 million (No. 12)
Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 62%
What critics said: "Those Who Wish Me Dead could have risen to meet Jolie's ability. But the film reflects the industry's lack of imagination for an older female action star." — The Atlantic
9. (tie) "Tom and Jerry"
Released: February 26
Max opening weekend viewership: 1.2 million households
US box office: $14.1 million
Global box office: $46.0 million (No. 7)
Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 31%
What critics said: "Very young kids might find some enjoyment in the brightly hued, fast-paced mania of it all, but those with any real affection for the pair of violently opposed animals will leave unimpressed." — Guardian
7. "The Little Things"
Released: January 29
Max opening weekend viewership: 1.4 million households
US box office: $15.2 million
Global box office: $29.8 million (No. 10)
Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 45%
What critics said: "It's a movie that's constantly on the verge of developing into something as intense and haunting as writer/director John Lee Hancock wants it to be, but it never achieves its goals, especially in its final half-hour." — RogerEbert.com
6. "The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It"
Released: June 4
Max opening weekend viewership: 1.6 million households
US box office: $65.6 million
Global box office: $202 million (No. 3)
Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 55%
What critics said: "Three films into this series (and eight into the overall 'Conjuring' franchise), it's not shocking that creative wells are starting to run a little dry, though that doesn't lessen the sting of this particular disappointment." — Indiewire
5. "Dune"
Released: October 22
Max opening weekend viewership: 1.9 million households
US box office: $106.3 million
Global box office: $390 million (No. 2)
Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 83%
What critics said: "Denis Villeneuve's new big-screen adaptation underlines why generations have been fascinated by the story." — Vox
4. "Space Jam: A New Legacy"
Released: July 15
Max opening weekend viewership: 2.1 million households
US box office: $70.5 million
Global box office: $162.8 million (No. 5)
Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 25%
What critics said: "Corporations handing a bag of unrelated IP and ordering screenwriters to come up with a story around them is the template for most studio filmmaking now, if not all of contemporary existence." — Slate
3. "The Suicide Squad"
Released: August 6
Max opening weekend viewership: 2.8 million households
US box office: $55.8 million
Global box office: $167.4 million (No. 4)
Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 90%
What critics said: "The gloriously unhinged James Gunn keeps Margot Robbie, John Cena and a top cast of crazies firing on all cylinders and turns a botch job original that was the worst movie of 2016 into the down-and-dirty whirlwind it was always meant to be." — ABC News
2. "Godzilla vs. Kong"
Released: March 31
Max opening weekend viewership: 3.6 million households (based on Wednesday through Sunday)
US box office: $100.5 million
Global box office: $467.9 million (No. 1)
Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 75%
What critics said: "Freed from the obligation to try and be anything more meaningful than it is, Godzilla vs. Kong ekes out its biggest triumphs when it embraces silliness and spectacle." — Mashable
1. "Mortal Kombat"
Released: March 31
Max opening weekend viewership: 3.8 million households
US box office: $42.2 million
Global box office: $83.6 million (No. 6)
Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 54%
What critics said: "Another paltry reminder that Hollywood has abandoned the sincere pleasure action films provide: pointing a camera at a person in motion to showcase their beauty and savagery." — Vulture
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