‘Knuckles’ Races To Streaming Record In Debut Weekend On Paramount+
Sonic the Hedgehog is quite the asset for Paramount+.
The streamer debuted the six-episode limited series Knuckles on April 26, expanding the “Cinematic World of Sonic the Hedgehog” — and setting a streaming record in the process.
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In its premiere weekend, Knuckles became the most-watched Paramount+ original series of all time with more than 4M hours streamed over that time frame. It’s also Paramount+’s most watched kids and family title ever.
Paramount+ rarely releases streaming data on its own accord, last touting the success of Lawmen: Bass Reeves. Just two episodes of that series amassed around 7.5M viewers globally in its first week on the platform. Of course, that also included a broadcast sampling run, which Knuckles did not receive.
The streamer is also using hours viewed to quantify the Knuckles audience, which makes it more difficult to compare to these previous numbers. Although, Knuckles appears poised to make an appearance in Nielsen’s streaming Top 10, which will allow for some comparison.
According to Paramount, the launch of the series also had a positive impact on other Sonic the Hedgehog, as viewership soared 278% globally over the previous daily average.
“The Sonic the Hedgehog fans came out in full-force,” said Jeff Grossman, Executive Vice President, Programming, Paramount+. “We’re so thrilled with the record-breaking performance of Knuckles and the incredible lift the whole Sonic universe has experienced following Knuckles‘ premiere.”
Knuckles, from Paramount Pictures and SEGA of America, follows Knuckles (Idris Elba) on a hilarious and action-packed journey of self-discovery as he agrees to train Wade (Adam Pally) as his protégé and teach him the ways of the Echidna warrior. The series takes place between the films Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and Sonic the Hedgehog 3.
In addition to Elba starring as the titular character, Adam Pally reprises his role from the film franchise as Wade Whipple. The ensemble cast includes guest stars Stockard Channing, Edi Patterson, Scott Mescudi, Ellie Taylor, Julian Barratt, Rory McCann, Cary Elwes, Christopher Lloyd, Paul Scheer, and Rob Huebel.
Special guest star Ben Schwartz reprises his role as Sonic, as well as special guest star Tika Sumpter, reprising her role as Maddie. Colleen O’Shaughnessey also returned as a special guest star in her role as Tails.
The series was created for television by John Whittington and Toby Ascher, who ran the show during production. Whittington, who co-wrote Sonic the Hedgehog 2, served as head writer and wrote the pilot for the series. Additional series writers include Brian Schacter and James Madejski.
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