The Old Guard, the action movie headlined by Charlize Theron, is projected by Netflix to reach 72 million households in the first four weeks after its release.
Netflix revealed those numbers through one of its official Twitter accounts, while also disclosing that The Old Guard is now looking to rank among the top ten most popular movies from the streaming giant ever.
As for the film’s director, Gina Prince-Bythewood, she should soon hold the distinction of being the first black female director to be included in Netflix’s all-time top ten.
THE OLD GUARD is breaking records! The Charlize Theron blockbuster is already among the top 10 most popular Netflix films ever — and Gina Prince-Bythewood is the first Black female director on the list.
The film is currently on track to reach 72M households in its first 4 weeks! pic.twitter.com/pM8vOTNa6m
— NetflixFilm (@NetflixFilm) July 18, 2020
Netflix’s most-watched
Shortly after tweeting about The Old Guard’s record-breaking first month, Netflix also took the opportunity to release some of its usually closely guarded data to Bloomberg.
For the first time, the popular streaming subscription service is publishing information regarding its most successful blockbusters, ranked according to how well they performed in their first four weeks in terms of viewership.
To be clear, The Old Guard is not yet included in the list, mainly because the film is yet to complete its four-week run. But as estimated by Netflix, the Charlize Theron actioner should be able to reach 72 million by early August.
Now on to Netflix’s all-time top ten list, according to the number of households reached:
- Extraction – 99 million
- Bird Box – 89 million
- Spenser Confidential – 85 million
- 6 Underground – 83 million
- Murder Mystery – 83 million
- The Irishman – 64 million
- Triple Frontier – 63 million
- The Wrong Missy – 59 million
- The Platform – 56 million
- The Perfect Date – 55 million
Another action hit for Netflix
Netflix’s all-time top ten list seems to favor action movies (Extraction, 6 Underground, Spenser Confidential, Triple Frontier) more than thrillers (Bird Box), dramas (The Irishman, The Platform), or comedies (Murder Mystery, The Wrong Missy, The Perfect Date).
It’s not that surprising then that this year’s The Old Guard should feel at home in the list. While it is true that director Prince-Bythewood has done a fine job of bringing the action from the source graphic novel to life in the streaming screen effectively, she gets a massive help from the star power and general badassery of Oscar winner Charlize Theron, who is no stranger to playing iconic action movie characters (Aeon Flux, Mad Max: Fury Road, Atomic Blonde).
2020 is proving to be a pretty good year for Netflix. The success of Extraction, starring Chris Hemsworth, is certainly proof of that, and it would make sense for the streaming service to offer more new action movie titles this year.
All signs indicate that with The Old Guard’s record-breaking run, Netflix’s action movie streak should continue in the weeks to come. And there’s more on the way, like Project Power (starring Jamie Foxx).
Image 1 and Image 2 courtesy of Skydance
