Netflix Unveils Its 10 Biggest Film Debuts: ‘Irishman’ Strong, No Film Over 100 Million Views
Zack Sharf
Netflix pulled back the curtain on its biggest original films this week by unveiling an official list of its 10 most watched original movies (via Bloomberg), which includes films directed by Michael Bay and Martin Scorsese. Netflix data should always be taken with a grain of salt as the streaming giant records a viewer as any subscriber that watched two minutes of a movie. While it’s unclear how many viewers watched these films in their entirety, the list does highlight the Netflix originals that generated the most interest among subscribers.
Topping the list is “Extraction,” the Sam Hargrave-directed action thriller starring Chris Hemsworth that debuted in April. The film earned 99 million Netflix “views” over its first four weeks, which is 11 million more than the second most-watched Netflix original “Bird Box,” the Sandra Bullock-starring thriller that became an internet sensation during the 2018 Christmas holiday. “Bird Box” netted 89 million views over its first four weeks. Unsurprisingly, both “Extraction” and “Bird Box” reportedly have sequels in development at Netflix.
Netflix’s top 10 list is dominated by action movies. The Mark Whalberg-starring action comedy “Spenser Confidential” comes in at number three with 85 million views, while Michael Bay’s “6 Underground” comes in at number four with 83 million views. Comedies also dominate with Adam Sandler’s “Murder Mystery” at number five (73 million views) and “The Wrong Missy” at number eight with (59 million views).
Also included in the Netflix Top 10 is Martin Scorsese’s “The Irishman,” which earned 10 Oscar nominations earlier this year. Netflix spent over $150 million on the pricy gangster drama and got 64 million views for the movie over its first four weeks of release. We’ll never know how many of the 64 million viewers stuck around to watch all 209 minutes of the drama, but Scorsese was clearly a draw for Netflix as millions were interested enough in the film to check out some of it.
“We want an impactful movie every two weeks,” Netflix’s film chief Scott Stuber told Bloomberg. “For one person, that’s ‘Extraction.’ For another, it’s ‘The Wrong Missy.'”
As Bloomberg notes: “All 10 of the movies were released in the last three years, most of them in the past 12 months, which makes sense when you consider that Netflix has added 43.6 million customers since the start of 2019. Each new release can reach a larger audience than its predecessors.”
Perhaps the most interesting statistic is that no Netflix original has broken the 100 million view mark in its first four weeks. Check out the top 10 list below.
1. “Extraction” – 99 Million
2. “Bird Box” – 89 Million
3. “Spenser Confidential” – 85 Million
4. “6 Underground” – 83 Million
5. “Murder Mystery” – 73 Million
6. “The Irishman” – 64 Million
7. “Triple Frontier” – 63 Million
8. “The Wrong Missy” – 59 Million
9. “The Platform” – 56 Million
10. “The Perfect Date” – 48 Million
