Father’s Day weekend was the ideal launchpad for Warner Bros’ Andy Garcia-Gloria Estefan romantic comedy Father of the Bride, which wound up being the biggest HBO Max movie premiere ever in its four days, specifically for a title that was exclusively made for the streaming service.
Father of the Bride was the No. 1 title across HBO Max around the world in its first four days since it launched on Thursday, June 16. The film also ranked among the top 10 most-watched title launches on HBO Max to date in Mexico, based on its first four days.
The fresh angle in this Latino take on Father of the Bride: The bride’s parents, played by Garcia and Estefan, are on the verge of a divorce.
Mexico ranks as the second-strongest country for Father of the Bride viewing on HBO Max to date, behind only the U.S.
As HBO Max looks to make its mark in Latin America, especially after a June 2021 launch in the region, a title such as Father of the Bride fits the bill in appealing to both U.S. and local subscribers in its universal story of marriage and in-laws. Father’s Day weekend was the prime drop date for the Plan B production, and filmmaker Gary Alazraki is beloved in Mexico for his comedies such as We Are the Nobles.
As we reported earlier, Warner Bros. production executives were won over by screenwriter Matt Lopez’s fresh take on the romantic comedy/wedding genre. Warner Bros. development exec Paul Perez championed the scribe’s script and won support for it at a studio feature development retreat. Perez, who now has a production deal on the Burbank lot, mined the IP out of the studio’s portion of the pre-1986 MGM library; the 1950 Vincente Minnelli-directed title previously was licensed to Disney’s Touchstone label, which made the 1991 Steve Martin-Diane Keaton-Martin Short remake that also spawned a sequel.
Perez also is behind Antoine Fuqua’s Training Day prequel, which is set during the L.A. riots that followed the Rodney King verdict.
Samba TV, which counts a sampling of 3M U.S. terrestrial TV households, not mobile, did not have ratings today for Father of the Bride due to the Juneteenth holiday. Samba TV recently measured that The Batman was the biggest theatrical title (not exclusively made for the streamer) in its first week on HBO Max, watched by 4.1M households.
