Picture: Netflix
Zack Snyder’s big-budget fantasy movie was released last week, and the initial viewership results from Netflix are mixed with all eyes now on how this will develop in the next few weeks.
Every Tuesday, Netflix publishes its top 10 data, providing a snapshot of the 40 top-performing titles for the week. This data is categorized into Films and TV, further divided into English and non-English language segments.
Beating out Leave the World Behind in the period from December 18th to December 24th, the movie garnered 54.10 million hours viewed in its first three and a bit days on the service. Netflix uses a “views” metric, referred to as Completed Viewing Equivalents (CVE), which divides the hours watched by the runtime. This calculation results in 23.9M views.
According to Netflix’s press release for the week, the film’s performance is described as follows:
“Zack Snyder’s wholly original science fantasy epic Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire debuted atop the English Films List with 23.9M views, making it the most-watched title of the week. Fans enjoyed ‘moon takeovers’ around the world, immersive trailer experiences directed by Snyder, and sneak peek fan screenings. The film also made the shortlist for the 96th Academy Awards in the visual effects category.”
Netflix also notes that the movie is in the top 10 in 93 countries.
Netflix top 10 card for Rebel Moon
How does Rebel Moon rank compared to Other Netflix Movies Week 1 Debut?
How does this rank against other premieres in 2023? Below, we compare Rebel Moon with other major Netflix movie releases of 2023 and a few others during its debut week.
The movie attracted significantly fewer viewing equivalents than some of Netflix’s big action hits of the year, such as The Mother (42.9M) and Extraction 2 (42.8M). The recently released Leave the World Behind also debuted with stronger numbers in week 1.
First three days of “views” for Netflix movies in 2023 – in millions
It’s also noteworthy that Rebel Moon had advantages over these movies: it was released early during prime time hours (in the USA) on a Thursday, and it launched over the festive period, potentially attracting more viewers during the holidays. We’ll observe its performance over the New Year break.
The Hollywood Reporter characterized these numbers as a “strong debut” for Netflix posting minutes after Netflix first released its top 10 viewings for the week, noting that the film relies on Snyder’s filmmaking brand rather than big A-listers. “Insiders” suggests that the second week’s numbers will be crucial for the movie.
Netflix has heavily invested in Snyder and the franchise, with a sequel scheduled for April 2024. Snyder has also teased video games set in the world, comics and other media too. Netflix has put a lot of eggs in this basket. Leading up to the release as Netflix notes above, the movie received extensive marketing, including activation points worldwide, a theatrical rollout in select theaters, and global premieres.
Given its holiday release and substantial marketing, one might have expected a stronger debut ultimately being comparable to major hits like Murder Mystery 2, rather than being overshadowed by an Ashton Kutcher rom-com. No offense Ashton Kutcher.
Why are the numbers lagging in week 1 so far? Are people too busy over the festive period to watch? Will more viewers tune in during the second week? Are critics’ reviews deterring viewers, or are they just waiting for a supposed superior Snyder R-rated cut?
There’s much more to analyze in the coming weeks and months, but as far as launching a major new franchise on Netflix goes, this is not the desired start. Frederic, our resident numbers guru, will provide more insights into Rebel Moon’s premiere tomorrow in our regular top 10 reports.
What are your thoughts on Rebel Moon on Netflix? Share your opinions in the comments below.