George Clooney's The Midnight Sky On Course To Be One Of Netflix's Most Watched Films Ever

It looks like George Clooney will be having a good start to 2021, as his new flick The Midnight Sky is set to become one of the most watched movies on Netflix.

The post-apocalyptic science-fiction movie, based on a book Lily Brooks-Dalton, was directed by Clooney, who also stars in it as scientist Augustine.

According to Deadline, The Midnight Sky, which landed on the streaming service on 23 December, is on course to be watched by a projected 72 million households world-wide within its first four weeks of release.

Netflix has confirmed the movie had the number spot in 77 countries and was in the top 10 in 93 countries.

It was also Netflix's biggest theatrical release of 2020 and was shown in 800 locations in 16 countries.

For those of you who are yet to see it, an official synopsis from Netflix reads: "This post-apocalyptic tale follows Augustine (George Clooney), a lonely scientist in the Arctic, as he races to stop Sully (Felicity Jones) and her fellow astronauts from returning home to a mysterious global catastrophe."

As well as Clooney and Jones, the movie also stars David Oyelowo, Kyle Chandler, Demián Bichir and Tiffany Boone.

Talking about the movie, Clooney said: "There's a longing in this story.

Netflix

"It's a real need to connect, deeply connect. And there's also this conversation about what mankind is capable of doing to mankind that creeps up on you."

He added: "Even when times didn't seem as apocalyptic as they do right now, we've always liked those kind of stories.

"In recent years, things have gotten scarier and, I think, a little more polarised, but that's cyclical. We still always like a good apocalyptic story."

Speaking in an interview with Variety, Clooney opened up about wanting to create a movie that dealt with current issues, while still being sci-fi.

Netflix

He said: "I wanted it to deal with things we're all dealing with today: the denying of science, playing out anger, hatred, and divisions in between the people of the United States, but also divisions that play out in other countries like the Philippines or Hungary.

"And if you play those out, 30 years from now, it's not inconceivable that the whole world could look like that."

The Midnight Sky is streaming on Netflix right now.

Topics: TV and Film, Netflix

Claire Reid

Claire is a journalist at LADbible who, after dossing around for a few years, went to Liverpool John Moores University. She graduated with a degree in Journalism and a whole load of debt. When not writing words in exchange for money she is usually at home watching serial killer documentaries surrounded by cats. You can contact Claire at [email protected]

@ClaireReid19