Meanwhile, Apple TV+’s ”WeCrashed“ star Anne Hathaway is the most popular lead actor of the crop
There are three new series focused on famous downfalls in the tech world: Hulu’s “The Dropout,” Showtime’s “Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber,” and Apple TV+’s “WeCrashed.” How are these shows faring against each other? We took a look at demand for the series and their talent to answer that question and if the “tech-crash” genre has staying power.
So far, “The Dropout,” based on a podcast that chronicled the rise and fall of Elizabeth Holmes and the Theranos scandal, has had the most successful premiere, peaking at over 20 times the average series demand — as measured by Parrot Analytics‘ patented platform, which takes into account consumer research data, streaming, downloads and social media, among other consumer engagement.
Contrast this with “Super Pumped,” which was adapted from Mike Isaac’s book of the same name. The limited series has had consistent weekly growth in demand throughout its season so far and looks set to surpass “The Dropout.”
Meanwhile, a week into its season, “WeCrashed,” also based on a popular podcast and starring Jared Leto as WeWork founder Adam Neuman, is somewhat splitting the difference between where other two series were at the same point in their seasons.
Comparing Season 1 demand, U.S., for “The Droput,” “Super Pumped,” and “WeCrashed.” (Parrot Analytics)
All these series have invested in A-list talent to lure viewers. By tracking the talent demand for these leads, we can see which actors are bringing the most star power to a project and which are themselves benefiting from increased exposure. “The Dropout” stars Amanda Seyfried and Naveen Andrews have seen the clearest increase in interest following the show’s premiere. In particular, Andrews, best known for his Emmy-nominated run as Sayid on ABC’s “Lost,” has been boosted to a new level of awareness by the show.
Demand for Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who plays Uber co-founder Travis Kalanick on “Super Pumped,” has actually remained relatively flat since the show’s premiere, indicating he’s doing more to attract attention to the series than the series is boosting interest in him.
“WeCrashed” actress Anne Hathaway has the highest demand among these leads and should help drive demand for “WeCrashed” with her star power. Meanwhile, demand for Leto has been steadily climbing due to multiple projects he’s involved with — not the least of which is Marvel’s “Morbius,” which will hit U.S. theaters on Friday.
Demand for lead actors on “The Droput,” “Super Pumped,” and “WeCrashed,” Feb. 1-March 21, 2022, U.S. (Parrot Analytics)
Series like these have found a winning strategy: Pick a proven piece of IP to adapt, blend based-on-a-true-story elements with the pull of a compelling drama, add the suspense of a true-crime story (but with no murder, keep it strictly white collar), the schadenfreude of the rich and famous getting their just deserts, and, finally, top it off with some serious star power.
Parrot Analytics is the industry leader in global audience demand measurement. The company measures global supply and demand for entertainment, capturing over 2 billion audiences expressing demand for content and talent in over 100 languages, across all platforms, in 200+ countries. Parrot Analytics' partners use this knowledge to help better understand global supply and demand across all platforms to value content and talent, drive better production, distribution, acquisition and marketing decisions, as well as increase D2C growth and retention. For more information, see www.parrotanalytics.com.
Parrot Analytics
Parrot Analytics is the industry leader in global audience demand measurement. The company measures global supply and demand for entertainment, capturing over 2 billion audiences expressing demand for content and talent in over 100 languages, across all platforms, in 200+ countries. Parrot Analytics' partners use this knowledge to help better understand global supply and demand across all platforms to value content and talent, drive better production, distribution, acquisition and marketing decisions, as well as increase D2C growth and retention. For more information, see www.parrotanalytics.com.