Netflix has another bona fide hit on its hands.
It tweeted on December 28, 2018, that over 45 million accounts had watched Bird Box, the “best first 7 days ever for a Netflix film!”
With 137 million global subscribers, that means almost one in three watched the “American post-apocalyptic psychological horror-thriller film.”
Actually, given multi-person households and un-monetized account sharing, the number of viewers could be close to 200 million.
In comparison, the Will Smith vehicle, Bright, did 11 million views in three days last year.
Why the success? I think it boils down to:
- Sandra Bullock’s star power
- its genre: high concept horror
- the timing of its release in Christmas Week
- social media around the blindfold image and then the #BirdBoxChallenge
In fact, Netflix ended up tweeting asking folks to stop it.
Aja Romano has some great Bird Box insights on Vox.
My take: [I will admit] [I have not seen this yet.] What I think is most interesting is how Netflix trumped their recommendation algorithm and placed an ad for Bird Box front and centre on everyone’s main screens. Every third account took the bait. This is the digital equivalent of Hollywood bulk buying TV ads in mid-December to fill cinemas on Christmas, traditionally one of the busiest days of the year. Another way Netflix has beaten Hollywood at its own game.