Netflix is remarkably secretive about how many people watch the movies and TV shows it spends so generously on producing.
The transmission giant offered a little more clarity on the popularity of some of his original films, revealing to Bloomberg that “,” a Chris Hemsworth action film, “Bird Box,” a dystopian thriller with Sandra Bullock navigating a grim infernal landscape that may not be so distant Future, and “Spenser Confidential,” a machismo-driven murder mystery that reunites Mark Wahlberg with “Lone Survivor” Peter Berg, were among his three most viewed debuts.
“Extraction” drew 99 million views in its first four weeks of release, “Birdbox” was viewed by 89 million, and 85 million subscribers broadcast “Spenser Confidential”. It’s unclear how many of these viewers stayed for end credits, as Netflix records anyone who watched two or more minutes of a movie as a viewer. Unsurprisingly, Netflix is working on tracking “Extraction” and “Birdbox”.
Martin Scorsese’s “The Irishman”, a lavish crime epic that spent $ 175 million to beat Robert De Niro and Al Pacino, was the sixth most viewed film, drawing 64 million views. It’s a strong number, but it pales in comparison to Michael Bay and Ryan Reynolds’ “6 Underground” team with 85 million views or Adam Sandler and Jennifer Anniston’s comedy “Murder Mystery” with 73 million views. None of the films attracted as much attention from critics or entertainment journalists. Other recent Netflix-backed award winners like “Marriage Story” and “Roma” failed to rank in the top 10.
As Bloomberg points out, a constant with the movies that clicked with viewers was the presence of a major star, be it Hemsworth, Wahlberg, Bullock, Reynolds or Sandler. Old-school authors, not so much (although a movie buff case has already been made for Mr. Bay).
More traditional studios aren’t thrilled with the way Netflix picks and picks the most beneficial numbers to launch. They privately complain that the financial performance of their films is rated weekly when the box office figures are released (Netflix does not share data on the selected films it screens in theaters). That means Netflix can gloat over its winners and hide its losers.
Here is the complete top 10:
Extraction (99 million)
Bird Box (89 million)
Confidential Spenser (85 million)
6 underground (83 million)
Murder mystery (73 million)
The Irishman (64 million)
Triple border (63 million)
The Wrong Missy (59 million)
The platform (56 million)
The perfect date (48 million)
