Run Movie Sets New Hulu Streaming Record

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Hulu's newest thriller Run has broken the record to become the streamer's most viewed film during an opening weekend. Directed by Aneesh Chaganty (Searching), Run stars Sarah Paulson as Diane, the mother of homeschooled teenager Chloe (Kiera Allen). Chloe's life is closely supervised by Diane, and as the teen digs further into their home life, she begins to suspect her mother is hiding something terrible. Lionsgate initially planned to release Run in theaters, but the coronavirus pandemic disrupted that strategy. As a result, Run became one of the many movies to score an exclusive streaming debut.

Run premiered on Hulu last weekend to excellent reviews, with many praising Paulson and Allen's performances. With the COVID-19 pandemic still making theaters a questionable prospect, more and more audiences are getting their entertainment from streaming services. Indeed, the most notable movies this year have largely emerged from places like Netflix, Disney+, and, yes, Hulu. Earlier this year, Hulu found great success with the Andy Samberg-Cristin Milioti romcom Palm Springs, and it appears the streamer has another winner on their hands.

Per Deadline, Run has officially notched Hulu's biggest opening weekend for any feature title. This includes both Hulu Originals and licensed films. On top of that, Run became the most-talked about Hulu Original ever on social media over the weekend. Previously, the streamer's biggest opening went to Palm Springs. Neither film has received concrete figures from Hulu, which is par for the course with most streaming services.



With this milestone, Run becomes the latest breakout streaming hit to arrive in 2020, following the likes of Disney+'s Hamilton and Amazon's Borat Subsequent Moviefilm. When one breaks down Run, it isn't too surprising that it's become a major hit. Not only does it boast a new performance from Paulson, one of the most well-regarded actresses today, Run scored positive reviews and features a compelling premise. One could argue that, by debuting on Hulu, Run was able to reach a bigger audience than it would have if it had been released in theaters, thus contributing to its success.

Between Palm Springs and Run, Hulu is slowly cementing itself as a go-to hotspot for quality original movies. Up until this year, it feels like Hulu largely relied on its television shows like The Handmaid's Tale and Ramy to score acclaim. Their movie side was mainly kept to documentaries and licensed product. Now, though, audiences can count on the service to provide excellent original films as well. This week will see the release of queer romcom Happiest Season, which is poised to be another breakout for Hulu. 2020 might've been a rough year for the entertainment industry, but for Hulu, it looks more like a good one.