This past holiday weekend was huge for streaming services like Disney+ and Netflix. Stranger Things 4 Volume 1, which launched on May 25, scored the biggest premiere weekend for a Netflix original with 286.79 million hours viewed, surpassing Bridgerton Season 2, which had 193 million views. Meanwhile, the Star Wars Universe also garnered plenty of eyeballs thanks to Disney+’s Obi-Wan Kenobi premiere. The anticipated Star Wars series launched its two-episode premiere on Friday, May 27, and both performed like gangbusters. The Obi-Wan Kenobi premiere is the most-watched Disney+ Original series premiere globally to date, based on hours streamed in an opening weekend. Immediately following the Obi-Wan Kenobi series premiere launch, Star Wars title viewership on Disney+ tripled in hours watched during opening weekend.
Per Disney+, “The story begins 10 years after the dramatic events of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith where Obi-Wan Kenobi faced his greatest defeat—the downfall and corruption of his best friend and Jedi apprentice, Anakin Skywalker, who turned to the dark side as evil Sith Lord Darth Vader.”
Ewan McGregor is back as the titular character, and the series also marks the highly anticipated return of Hayden Christensen as Darth Vader. The rest of the cast is stacked with incredible talent, including Moses Ingram, Joel Edgerton, Bonnie Piesse, Kumail Nanjiani, Indira Varma, Rupert Friend, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Sung Kang, Simone Kessell, and Benny Safdie.
Directed by Deborah Chow and executive-produced by Kathleen Kennedy, Michelle Rejwan, Deborah Chow, Ewan McGregor, and Joby Harold, the first two episodes of Obi-Wan Kenobi introduce bold new characters to the Star Wars canon. The series also features Leia Organa and Luke Skywalker as children before their fated encounter and galaxy-spanning adventure in Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope.
Did you watch Obi-Wan Kenobi over the holiday weekend? What did you think about the premiere? Feel free to let us know in the comments section below.