Disney+: Obi-Wan Kenobi becomes most-successful premiere for streamer

Disney has revealed that Obi-Wan Kenobi has been its most popular debut to date.

The highly anticipated limited series sees Scottish actor Ewan McGregor reprise his role as the titular character, and is set a decade after his last appearance in the franchise in 2005’s Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith.

On Twitter, Disney said: “Thank you to the best fans in the galaxy for making @ObiWanKenobi the most-watched #DisneyPlus Original series premiere globally to date, based on hours streamed in an opening weekend.”

According to statistics published by TV tech firm Samba TV, the first episode of the series was watched by 2.14 million US households between its premiere on Friday and Monday.

During a comparable period of launch day plus the next three days (L+3D), the season two premiere of The Mandalorian was watched by 2.08 million US households while The Book Of Boba Fett’s premiere attracted 1.5 million. Moon Knight, the most recent Marvel series on Disney+, was watched by 1.6 million US households L+3D.

But while the figures from Samba TV lineup with Disney+’s statement, it was not the biggest debut of the weekend. 

According to the firm, the season 4 debut of Stranger Things was watched by 2.9 million US households L+3D.

Ashwin Navin, CEO of Samba TV, said: “Big name-brand properties are attracting some of the largest streaming audiences we see for their premiere weekends. As ad-supported streaming models continue to gain steam, these huge weekend draws are going to be critically important for brands that are looking for incremental reach beyond linear TV.”