Netflix reports record-breaking figures for new Aniston-Sandler movie 'Murder Mystery'

Murder Mystery, Adam Sandler's new movie which pairs him up with Jennifer Aniston, has set a new streaming record for Netflix, the studio is reporting.

Nearly 31 million accounts watched the comedy on its opening weekend, the largest audience yet for a Netflix-produced film.

Tweeting the results, it broke down 13.3 million of those were in the US, and a further 17.4 million worldwide.

The streamer confirms that it only counts a view if an account has watched 70 percent of the content, though its stats are still not independently verified in the same way that cinema figures are.

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But if the stats are accurate, it's convincingly topped previous record-holder Bird Box's first week record, with 26 million views in its first week on release back in December last year.

Other original Netflix hits have included Ben Affleck's Triple Frontier, which brought in 52 million views in four weeks, and the series The Umbrella Academy, which saw 45 million streams.

It's a coup for Sandler too, who was failing to replicate his 90s success at the multiplex with a string of box office disappointments through the 2000s.

The comedian, writer, producer and director signed a four-picture deal with Netflix in 2015, and then added a further four movies in 2017.

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That said, Murder Mystery has taken a bit of a panning at the hands of the critics, with just 45 percent approval on Rotten Tomatoes and 38 percent on Metacritic.

His next will be Uncut Gems, likely to be a serious drama, in which he plays a diamond dealer to the rich and famous, alongside Lakeith Stanfield, Idina Menzel and Pom Klementieff.

It will debut on Netflix in September.