A stage recording of the musical “Hamilton” was released on Disney+ Friday, July 3. With the debut came a spike in mobile app downloads.
Over the holiday weekend, the Disney+ app was downloaded 513,323 times with 266,084 of those downloads coming from the US, according to Apptopia and first reported by Variety. Those numbers show that the download rate for the app was 72.4% higher than average for previous weekends in June. The numbers don’t include downloads from the web, smart TVs, or streaming devices.
In anticipation of the surge in downloads from viewers who would be opening the app specifically for “Hamilton,” Disney ended the 7 day free trial for the streaming service in June.
“We continue to test and evaluate different marketing, offers, and promotions to grow Disney+. The service was set at an attractive price-to-value proposition that we believe delivers a compelling entertainment offering on its own,” a Disney+ spokesperson told The Verge when the free trial was discontinued two weeks before the premiere of the film.
“Hamilton” was initially set to play in theaters in October 2021. Disney opted to premiere the recording, featuring the original Broadway cast, on Disney+ as a result of COVID-19. Starring Lin-Manuel Miranda, Leslie Odom Jr., Daveed Diggs, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Jonathan Groff, Christopher Jackson, Jasmine Cephas Jones, Okieriete Onaodowan, Anthony Ramos, and Phillipa Soo and directed by Thomas Kail, the film was shot with 6 cameras at the Richard Rodgers Theatre in Manhattan.
“All who saw it with the original cast will never forget that singular experience. And we’re thrilled to have the opportunity to share this same Broadway experience with millions of people around the world,” said Bob Iger when Disney won rights to the film in a deal reportedly worth $75 million.
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