The Big Picture
- Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire dominates Netflix’s Top 10 charts with 34 million views, positioning it well for the release of Part Two.
- Netflix invested heavily in Rebel Moon with four films planned, including darker director’s cuts and a video game.
- Ricky Gervais’ stand-up special tops English programs, but the non-English series Berlin steals the television crown with 11.3 million views.
The reign continues for Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire atop Netflix’s weekly Top 10 charts. As 2023 came to a close, audiences continued to flock to the first half of Zack Snyder‘s sweeping sci-fi epic during the holidays, racking up 34 million views to put it comfortably at the peak of the English Films chart and improve on its numbers from its first run on the platform before Christmas. Despite the icy reception from critics, the director’s Star Wars-like film is positioned well ahead of the second part’s release in April if the audience’s reaction is any indication.
Starring Sofia Boutella, Djimon Hounsou, Charlie Hunnam, Michiel Huisman, Ed Skrein, and more, Rebel Moon is a huge investment for Netflix considering all the time and marketing poured into the film and all the extensions to this universe in the works. The streamer will receive not two, but four films, as both parts are receiving darker, more mature director’s cuts. A video game is also in the works for release later this year alongside a prequel comic about the Bloodaxe family coming soon on January 10.
Rebel Moon is set up to thrive as a keystone franchise for Netflix, but Snyder and company aren’t the only ones celebrating on the film side of things. Julia Roberts is drawing a ton of eyes on the platform between Sam Esmail‘s apocalyptic thriller Leave the World Behind and Garry Marshall‘s Pretty Woman. Though the Higher Ground production isn’t dominating the charts anymore, it still raked in an impressive 14.6 million views in second place, followed by Marshall’s rom-com darling in third with 8.4 million views. Following the top trio is a cavalcade of big titles including Aardman’s Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget with 8.2 million views, Illumination’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie with 7.4 million, Adam Sandler‘s Leo with 6.7 million, and Netflix newcomer Top Gun: Maverick debuting with 6.2 million.
‘Berlin’ Steals the Show on the Non-English TV Charts
On the television charts, Ricky Gervais took the crown for English programs with his new stand-up special Ricky Gervais: Armageddon which scored 8 million views. It now firmly leads previous chart-toppers My Life With the Walter Boys and the final season of The Crown which came in second and third with 5.4 million and 3.6 million views respectively. Yet, Gervais’s Netflix television crown was swiped by a master thief — Berlin. Debuting on the non-English TV charts, the Money Heist spinoff following Pedro Alonso‘s titular thief years before targeting the Royal Mint of Spain scored 11.3 million views, making it the top program across all of television this week on Netflix.
Other notable series in other languages include The Manny, a romantic comedy picking up 8.2 million views in second place, as well as the much-anticipated Pokémon Concierge which racked up 2.6 million views in sixth place, and the live-action Yu Yu Hakusho adaptation placing just a notch above with 2.6 million as well. To cap off the list, Brazil’s A Vampire in the Family reigned over the non-English film charts with 7.6 million views, followed by the buzzy true-crime documentary Curry & Cyanide – The Jolly Joseph Case from India with 6.5 million and Sweden’s Thank You, I’m Sorry with 2.9 million.
Rebel Moon, Berlin, and more are now streaming on Netflix. Check out our review here for our thoughts on Snyder’s long-awaited sci-fi epic.
Rebel Moon
When a peaceful settlement on the edge of a distant moon finds itself threatened by the armies of a tyrannical ruling force, a mysterious stranger living among its villagers becomes their best hope for survival.
- Release Date
- December 22, 2023
- Director
- Zack Snyder
