Netflix has set a major record for the first time in 18 years, and they have done so with a film watched for more than 350,000,000 hours since its release.
The streamer is perhaps best known for its ability to produce bingeable TV shows like Hostage or the most recent Amy Bradley documentary.
In recent years however Netflix has invested more and more money into their original films, leading to massive successes with movies such as the Christmas thriller Carry-On.
Advert
One of its newest films however has rocketed to the top two of the all-time watch list and just this weekend set a major record.
KPop Demon Hunters, released all the way back in June on Netflix, has been a huge success for the streamer.
Sitting only behind $200,000,000 The Rock and Ryan Reynolds film Red Notice in the all-time viewing list on Netflix, it overtook Netflix classics like Bird Box and Don’t Look Up on the way.
This past weekend however it has topped the US domestic box office, the first time a Netflix film has ever achieved this feat.
Advert
KPop Demon Hunters scored an $18m weekend despite releasing in cinemas roughly two months after it first came out.
KPop Demon Hunters does exactly what it says on the tin. The movie stars a KPop band who spend their free time hunting demons to try and keep their fans safe.
Netflix traditionally do not provide theatre runs to their films with the exception of movies they are looking to win Oscars for which they ordinarily give the minimum weeks in theatres needed to be eligible.
For KPop Demon Hunters, however, Netflix clearly smelled the franchise potential and a ‘sing-along’ version of the movie was released in theatres for a limited run, this being the version of the film to top the box office.
Advert
The Wrap reported in July of this year that Netflix had already planned two sequels, a TV series, a short film, and a stage musical.
Fans were shocked by the success of the film in being the first ever Netflix movie to win at the box office, with one fan tweeting about the news: “I think it's safe to say this movie has genuinely broken Netflix, like it legitimately destroyed every single metric they use to measure a movie's success.
“Massive pat on the back to the creative team though, because this is HUGE.”
One fan on Reddit pointed out a fact too that made this even more impressive than many would have originally thought.
Advert
They commented: “This is impressive considering that this was without AMC (it was only in 1,800 theatres when a regular wide release has 3,000+), and they only had Sat & Sun showings, missing a full day for the regular weekend box office haul.”
Another commented: “Please for the love of god just release your cool movies in theatres to begin with.”
Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos has spoken in the past about his belief that watching films in cinemas is 'outdated for most'.
Topics: Netflix, TV and Film, Film
Michael Slavin