Jen vs. Ben: ‘The Mother’ and ‘Air’ Vie for This Week’s Top Streaming Movie
In the end, Jennifer Lopez’s Netflix thriller edges out Ben Affleck’s Prime Video biopic about the Michael Jordan-Nike sneaker collaboration
It’s official: Bennifer is a power couple when it comes to streaming, too.
That much is clear after Ben Affleck’s “Air,” which chronicles Nike’s courtship of Michael Jordan in the mid-’80s, just led Amazon’s Prime Video to its best streaming week of the year. (More on that in a moment.) “Air” finished last weekend as the second-most streamed movie in the U.S., according to Whip Media’s movie ranker, which is based on viewership data from TV Time, its TV and movie tracking app with more than 25 million global registered users.
The only movie Americans streamed more last weekend? Jennifer Lopez’s “The Mother,” which pushed Netflix to the top of the ranking. And there’s no shame in coming in second place here, considering “The Mother” had the best opening weekend for a Netflix movie in 2023, taking into account every market the streaming giant is in. It was No. 1 in 82 countries, likely due to Lopez’s worldwide star power.
So, yeah, J-Lo has bragging rights at home this week.
Still, “Air’s” silver-medal performance was a big deal for Prime Video. That’s because its second-place finish was the highest an Amazon movie landed on Whip Media’s movie ranker this year. (“Air” debuted last Friday, after the movie spent its first month in theaters.)
Previously, Amazon’s best-performing flick of 2023 was “Shotgun Wedding,” which finished in third place for three consecutive weeks earlier this year. And the star of “Shotgun Wedding,” you might remember, was… Jennifer Lopez.
In non-Bennifer news, Tom Hanks and “A Man Called Otto” helped Netflix also grab the third spot on the ranker. Overall, Netflix led all streamers last weekend with three movies cracking the top 10. (“Murder Mystery 2” starring Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston continues to pull in big views for the service, coming in eighth place last weekend.)
Top streaming movies, May 12-14, 2023, U.S. (Whip Media)
Apple TV+ also had a strong weekend. “Ghosted,” after three consecutive weeks finishing among the top-three most streamed movies in the U.S., only suffered a minor dip, coming in fifth place.
And right below it was “Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie,” the Apple TV+ documentary that looks at the iconic actor’s battle with Parkinson’s disease. This is another noteworthy finish, too, against “Air,” the best-performing documentary on Whip Media’s ranker this year.
Some other quick notes: “Scream VI,” after finishing in first place over back-to-back weekends, landed in fourth place. And Peacock scored two top 10 movies last weekend with “Cocaine Bear” and “Knock at the Cabin.”
Sean Burch is a marketing insights analyst at Whip Media, a WrapPRO partner. Click here for more from Whip Media.
