Bree Brouwer -

One of the most highly-anticipated films of 2017 just made its debut in US theaters. Can you guess what it is? Nope, it’s definitely not Captain Underpants. The film is (and you better believe it) Wonder Woman. According to a recent survey by Fandango, the #1 movie audiences are most excited for is DC’s upcoming, female-led superhero flick; 92% of Fandango’s survey participants noted their excitement specifically for a standalone film featuring a female superhero.

Part of audience’s anticipation is because Wonder Woman has been a long time coming, since the character was invented over 70 years ago and has never had a silver screen debut. But considering we live in a highly digital age, how does this enthusiasm for Wonder Woman translate into views and engagement on videos like official trailers and fan-related content?

As part of our look at Memorial Day Weekend movie releases, we decided to dig deeper, and discovered Wonder Woman content has performed incredibly well over the last year. Here’s a breakdown of some of the viewing and engagement trends and earned media outcomes for this superheroine film’s clips.

Wonder Woman Content Is Kicking A$$ and Taking Names Across the Board

Since May 1, 2016, the views on both official and user-generated content (UGC) have been fairly similar, though views on official trailers and previews are higher (this difference can probably be attributed to paid views and promotion). That being said, the large view counts from each are impressive and prove just how hungry fans are for content featuring the Amazonian-inspired superheroine.

For example, let’s look at the first official trailer for Wonder Woman, which Warner Bros. released at San Diego Comic-Con in July 2106. On YouTube, the trailer pulled in over 28.3 million views to date via the official Warner Bros. Pictures channel. The Movieclips Trailers brand also saw high view counts on YouTube for the same trailer at 15.6 million, likely without as much promotion as Warner Bros., but still large enough to bring plenty of eyeballs onto the film’s release.

Official and UGC content also boasted higher-than-normal engagement rates. Official content, of course, had more engagements due to paid promotions, but Wonder Woman content from other publishers and creators is also holding its own. With the Comic-Con trailer discussed above, Warner Bros. saw a whopping average 30-day engagement rate (ER30) of 2.0x (twice the baseline!), while Movieclips saw a close 1.7x. Likewise, this same trailer released on the Wonder Woman film’s official Facebook page pulled in 1.6x ER30, while IGN’s distribution of the clip earned a higher ER30 of 2.0x.

The only difference between official and UGC Wonder Woman content is when average 30-day view counts (V30) are considered. For example, the V30 on the Comic-Con trailer on the Wonder Woman Facebook page claimed a 19.5 million V30, while IGN lagged with just 3.1 million. A similar difference can be seen between the trailer on the Warner Bros. YouTube channel (24.2 million V30) and the same trailer on Movieclips’ channel (9.6 million V30). Again, this divide shouldn’t be shocking, as official companies working on Wonder Woman are engaging in paid promotion to help ensure their film is a success.

Recent Wonder Woman Clips Seeing Great Returns

Now when we looked at the most-viewed Wonder Woman clips in the last month alone, we found — again — both official and UGC content performing splendidly. For starters, lead actress Gal Gadot’s released an exclusive Wonder Woman trailer on May 7 on her official Facebook page. The video, which saw a higher-than-average engagement rate of 1.3x after only a week, pulled in a total of 9.8 million views, with 9.1 million of these coming from the first three days alone! Releasing this exclusive trailer on Gadot’s Facebook was, obviously, a winning move which helped drive the upcoming film’s popularity.

Outside of Warner Bros. accounts, including some videos from the official Wonder Woman Facebook page, the remainder of the film’s most-watched clips as of May 1 all stem from other media publishers and creators. For example, late-night host Conan O’Brien landed twice on the top ten list, pulling in 7.6 million views across two clips featuring him trying his best to “work out” with highly-trained Gadot. These clips, uploaded on May 25, are a last-minute press boost from O’Brien right before the film’s release.

Other publishers and creators to help contribute to Wonder Woman-related anticipation and video views include Mexican movie theater chain Cinépolis, family entertainment and skits channel Superhero Fun Factory, and movie trailer brand The Flash 4K. These creators and publishers capitalized on the Wonder Woman frenzy, claiming more than 10.9 million views across all three of their primary platforms.

Ultimately, the lesson to be learned from these Wonder Woman findings is that movie studios should consider looking to related brands and digital influencers to help reach more of their target audiences in the months and weeks leading up to a film’s release. Both official and UGC videos can work together to generate buzz, as is evidenced by the content we explored above. Clearly, these stats all speak for themselves; the world is ready for Wonder Woman.