“Soul” vs. “Wonder Woman 1984”

Two blockbuster films of “Soul” and “Wonder Woman 1984” opened to close out 2020. Both were shared on streaming services, with Disney+ streaming “Soul” and “Wonder Woman 1984” coming out in theaters and HBO Max. 2.3 million new app downloads came after “Soul” was released, compared to 554,000 downloads for HBO Max because of “Wonder Woman 1984.” For Disney+, they grew by 28% with new subscribers just because of “Soul,” which is a remarkable achievement.

One of the biggest reasons Disney+ came out on top is that it is streamed to countries worldwide, while HBO Max is only in the United States of America. But, “Wonder Woman 1984” did overtake “Soul” in the theaters since Disney only released it on its platform. “Wonder Woman 1984” made $16 million in its opening weekend, which was the most since the pandemic closed down theaters.

It terms of movie receptions, “Soul” received a 95% Rotten Tomatoes score, while “Wonder Woman 1984” only got 62%. The audience score for “Soul” was higher as well, with a 95% audience score compared to 72% for “Wonder Woman 1984.” Additionally, “Wonder Woman 1984” had the lowest DC movie scoring on IMDB.

Ultimately, by pure numbers, Disney+ wins, but it was still really good for HBO Max. With Disney+ receiving 87 million subscribers in 2020 alone, they were already way ahead of HBO Max with 13 million. Both made millions over the weekend and should be proud of releasing quality material in a pandemic. It will be exciting to see what HBO Max and Disney+ do next to make things work for their perspective franchises.