Yahoo Movies Netflix's 10 most watched original films revealed as The Mother debuts on list
Jennifer Lopez's revenge thriller has been watched for over 200 million hours
Netflix has long been a part of the public consciousness, changing the landscape of the movie industry through streaming, and then by making its own blockbusters for the small screen.
The Mother, Jennifer Lopez's action thriller about an assassin coming out of hiding in order to protect her daughter, has been revealed to be one of Netflix's most viewed films or all time since it was released on 12 May, 2023.
Lopez's latest release has been viewed for over 229.3 million total viewing hours in its first 28 days, which is the measure by which Netflix collates its data. It is a staggering amount that rivals some of the streamer's biggest releases to date.
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Prolific filmmaker Quentin Tarantino may have called out the streamer by saying they may claim Ryan Reynolds' movies made them $50 million but they "don't exist in the zeitgeist," however Netflix subscribers might not agree with this sentiment, given the amount of hours that have been dedicated to these films.
The Mother made quite the splash in its first 28 days as it was viewed for almost 230 million hours by subscribers globally, landing it in eighth place above Sandra Bullock's tense crime drama The Unforgivable, and romantic drama Purple Hearts in the ranking for English-language films.
The Unforgivable is in tenth place with over 214 million hours viewed globally, while Purple Hearts just beat it with 228 million hours watched. Chris Hemsworth's action film Extraction currently sits in seventh place after being watched over 231 million hours in its first 28 days.
Reynolds' first big hit for Netflix is The Adam Project, which was viewed in its first 28 days for over 233 million hours by subscribers, earning it the sixth spot in the platform's global top 10.
Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans' spy thriller The Gray Man proved the continued power of the Russo brothers, whose film was watched for almost 254 million hours in its first 28 days.
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Meanwhile Glass Onion, Rian Johnson's sequel to Knives Out, currently sits in fourth place with over 279 million hours viewed, and given the whodunnits' release on the platform over the 2022 Christmas period this seems a believable figure.
The top three original Netflix films, in an English-language, may not surprise people because of the huge buzz they created at the time of their release. In third place is Sandra Bullock's smash hit Bird Box, which was viewed over 282 million hours, followed by Leonardo DiCaprio's political satire Don't Look Up, a film that drew in subscribers as well as Oscar nominations, and was watched for over 359 million hours in 28 days.
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2021 action film Red Notice has the coveted top spot, the thriller stars big-hitters Reynolds, Gal Gadot and Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson as an art thief, a criminal mastermind and an FBI agent on a collision course with each other. It was viewed for a total of 364,020,000 hours in its first 28. days.
There does seem to be one thing most of these films have in common, they're big-budget action flicks with an A-list cast at its helm. Their appeal certainly seems universal, and many of the films were also released during the COVID pandemic when the public were stuck inside their homes and in need of something to pass the time.
How has Netflix's Global top 10 films ranking changed?
In the past, Netflix would keep its viewing figures closely guarded, choosing not to reveal exact statistics about either its films or TV shows.
The streamer first revealed their list of top 10 original films in 2020 to Bloomberg, which revealed at the time that Extraction had first place, with Bird Box coming in second, and Mark Wahlberg's Spenser Confidential coming third.
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The top 10 list was originally based on the amount of households to watch the movies rather than hours watched and so the ranking has, therefore, changed quite significantly over the years.
Netflix's top 10 films in 2020
Extraction - 99 million viewers
Bird Box - 89 million viewers
Spenser Confidential - 85 million viewers
6 Underground - 83 million viewers
Murder Mystery - 73 million viewers
The Irishman - 64 million viewers
Triple Frontier - 63 million viewers
The Wrong Missy - 59 million viewers
The Platform - 56 million viewers
The Perfect Date - 48 million viewers
Watch a trailer for Extraction 2
