‘Parasite’ Has Monster Streaming Debut and Sets All-Time Hulu Records in One Week
Zack Sharf
Bong Joon Ho’s “Parasite” is proving to be a streaming monster since making its exclusive debut April 8 on Hulu. The streaming giant confirms to IndieWire that in just one week “Parasite” has become the most streamed independent or foreign language film among all titles available on Hulu. Even more impressive, “Parasite” is now the second most-watched movie overall on Hulu ever among titles currently available to stream. What that means is that in one week “Parasite” out-streamed the lifetimes of popular titles such as “How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World,” “A Quiet Place,” “Transformers: The Last Knight,” and “Creed II,” all of which have been available to stream on Hulu for several months.
“Parasite” is now a crown jewell in Hulu’s streaming library, and the platform knows it. Last week, Hulu went viral for shutting down trolls on social media who were spotted complaining about “Parasite” having subtitles since it is a foreign language drama. The streamer event reminded one critic who called the film “pathetic” that it is a four-time Oscar winner. When one person wrote, “It’s not in English, no one wants to watch a movie that they literally have to read to understand what’s going on,” Hulu snapped back, “If you don’t want to read subtitles, you can always learn Korean!”
The unprecedented success of “Parasite” on Hulu in just one week is the latest milestone for the Bong Joon Ho drama. “Parasite” started its run at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival, where it became the first movie from South Korea to take home the Palme d’Or. In January of this year, “Parasite” earned South Korea its first Oscar nominations in any category, including Best International Feature Film (formerly Best Foreign Language Film). “Parasite” won the Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best International Feature Film. The movie’s Best Picture victory marks the first time in the Academy’s 92-year history that a foreign language film has won the biggest prize.
“Parasite” continues to be available to stream on Hulu. The film earned over $50 million at the U.S. box office for distributor Neon and more than $200 million worldwide. Later this year, the Bong drama will makes its debut on The Criterion Collection.
