Netflix Film Bird Box Now Viewed by 80 Million Accounts - How Does That Compare to Top Movies?

Netflix announced in the Q4 earnings today that over 80 million “member households” have watched Bird Box. The film starring Sandra Bullock, Trevante Rhodes, John Malkovich, and Sarah Paulson had the best first 7 days ever for a Netflix film with over 45 million accounts streaming the film. The thriller follows a mother (Sandra Bullock) and her two children in their desperate bid to reach safety.

In the release, Netflix shared the an account is considered a viewer once a view surpasses 70 percent of total running time of a film. This is very different than YouTube that considers a view when a user has watched for around 30 seconds.

So while it’s difficult to compare to traditional movie sales, the top movie in January, Aquaman, grossed $137 million in its first week and sold close to 15 million tickets. The top TV broadcast last week, Saturday night’s NFL playoff game, saw over 33 million viewers on a single night.

It’s clear that viewership was massive and that Netflix has the opportunity to drive viewers to films that wouldn’t be traditional blockbuster movies. Given that Netflix self-reports its view metrics and has been tight lipped about them in the past, it will be interesting to compare this to future films on the service going forward.