Iggy Pop’s ‘Punkrocker’ Takes Flight Again as HBO’s ‘Superman’ Debut Tops 13 Million Streams
Photo Credit: Iggy Pop by Dirk Annemans / CC by 4.0
‘Superman’ soars to 13 million views in its first 10 days streaming on HBO, and an Iggy Pop song featured on the soundtrack is reaping the benefits.
In its first 10 days on HBO’s streaming service, “Superman” reached new heights with 13 million views—the biggest 10-day audience for a movie debut since “Barbie” hit streaming in 2023. Directed by James Gunn and starring David Corenswet, the DC Studios film hit HBO on September 19.
That success has trickled down to the film’s soundtrack, as well as other films involving Superman. According to Warner Bros. Discovery, immediately before and after the new film began streaming, other Superman titles saw spikes in viewership that week, including “Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story,” “Superman: The Movie,” “Superman Returns,” and “Man of Steel.”
James Gunn’s Superman film hit theaters in July and was a box office success. It grossed over $600 million on a $225 million budget and also performed well with critics. The movie also has an 83% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
But beyond major success for a Superman flick, the film is further buoyed by its soundtrack. James Gunn has a history of pairing successful soundtracks with his films—his “Awesome Mix” from the Guardians of the Galaxy films featured ‘70s hits like “Hooked On a Feeling” and “Come and Get Your Love,” while the Suicide Squad soundtrack possessed ‘80s punk flare with The Jim Carroll Band’s “People Who Died,” and Pixies’ “Hey.”
“Superman” continues the punk rock theme, but with a more contemporary course. “Punkrocker,” produced by Swedish band Teddybears and featuring the vocals of punk rock legend Iggy Pop, underscores the film’s final scene and continues into the closing credits. The song was released in 2006, and it’s an earworm that just won’t quit.
“I always thought the track had soul,” Iggy Pop told The Hollywood Reporter back in July, when the film released in theaters. “Superman is the best friend you could have.”
The track drew 2.9 million official U.S. streams and sold 3,000 downloads during the week of July 11, coinciding with Gunn’s “Superman” film’s first week at the box office. Its sales put the song at #1 on Billboard’s Rock Digital Song Sales and Alternative Digital Song Sales charts, and #6 on the all-genre Digital Song Sales ranking. That marks the Teddybears’ first Billboard ruler, and Iggy Pop’s first since his 2016 solo album Post Pop Depression, which led multiple album lists.
Further, “Punkrocker” went from 1,572 streams to nearly 190,500 the day after the movie’s opening night, according to data from Luminate. Another song from the soundtrack, “5 Years Time,” a 2007 folk single from Noah and the Whale, went from 7,300 streams to 85,400 during the same period—a 1,000% increase.
Link to the source article – https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2025/09/29/iggy-pop-punkrocker-superman-hbo/
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