11 Million Maniacs Watched Netflix’s ‘Bright’ on Its Weekend of Release
There are a few things that strike dread into the hearts of even the most stoic people: The “we need to talk” text. An unexpected delay on the subway during rush hour. The wildebeest herd coming over the edge of the canyon in The Lion King. The fact that Netflix’s Bright got 11 million views in its first weekend of release.
Look what you’ve done.
Variety reports that, while Netflix jealously guards its ratings numbers usually, Nielsen was able to give an estimate of about 11 million subscribers who chose to watch Bright over yanking out their own teeth with pliers or jumping into a frozen lake. To compare, that’s less than the second season of Stranger Things (15.8 million views in the same three-day time period) and way more than the premiere of The Crown Season 2 (nearly 3 million views in the U.S.). That’s an impressive get for Netflix, who have now proven themselves contenders in the blockbuster arena.
But it’s pretty disappointing that watchers have chosen to grant this distinction to what some critics have been calling Netflix’s worst movie ever made, and leaving films like Dee Rees’ Mudbound — which, among other things, is actually good — to languish amongst the other unpopular indie dramas. These ratings don’t account for how many people clicked play accidentally, or started to watch the movie and then stopped halfway through, but it definitely sends the message to Netflix that Bright is what the people want. (It seems like they were able to predict this, as Netflix announced a Bright 2 a day before reviews dropped.)
But the so-weird-I-gotta-watch-it mentality can only go so far. This is the reason we have so many Sharknados. This is why The Ridiculous 6, which previously held the title of worst Netflix original, was the streaming giant’s most-watched movie when it debuted. The bubble’s gotta burst at some point. For now, Joel Edgerton is resigning himself to donning that blue, Oscar-nominated orc face once again.
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