Netflix released its very own 2019 wrap up on Monday, revealing its top 10 movies, series and documentary releases.
Claiming the overall spot of the most popular release for 2019 was Murder Mystery – the comedic mystery starring Jennifer Aniston and Adam Sandler.
Released in June, the 97 minute movie broke the streaming service’s three-day viewership record and went on to claim 73 million viewers within the first four weeks.
But the streaming service, which boasts more than 158 million subscribers around the world, only selectively releases viewership figures for programming it considers a hit, and the numbers are not verified by a third party.
It has always been secretive about its viewing figures and has still not released the actual viewership stats, only its own rankings.
Stranger Things came in second, followed by the Michael Bay action movie 6 Underground, according to Netlfix. The animated movie Incredibles 2 and Martin Scorsese’s gangster film The Irishman took the fourth and fifth spots, respectively.
Netflix stated via Twitter on Monday that the lists were ranked based on accounts that chose to watch just two minutes or more of a title during its first 28 days. Shows that have not yet been out for 28 days were calculated on projected figures.
Jennifer Aniston and Adam Sandler’s Murder Mystery film has topped Netflix’s most watched title, with 73 million people tuning in within the first four weeks of the title’s release
| Most watched title | Views (in millions)* |
|---|---|
| 1. Murder Mystery | 73 million |
| 2. Stranger Things | 64 million |
| 3. 6 underground | N/A |
| 4. The Incredibles 2 | N/A |
| 5. The Irishman | N/A |
| 6. The Witcher | N/A |
| 7. Triple Frontier | 52 million |
| 8. Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile | N/A |
| 9. The Umbrella Academy | 45 million |
| 10. The Highwaymen | 40 million |
| *Ranking based on the number of households watching at least two minutes of the show during its first 28 days on Netflix in 2019 |
Top titles that were released this month, such as Kevin Hart: Don’t F**k This Up (December 27) and You: S2 (December 26), were given viewing predictions.
The stats come after a Netflix spokesperson told EW earlier in the year that a view was only counted ‘when it surpassed 70 per cent of the run time (including credits)’.
All of Netflix’s top 10 titles were Netflix originals – besides number four, The Incredibles 2.
British royal series ‘The Crown,’ whose first two seasons cost a reported $130 million to make, did not appear in the top 10 list for either the U.S. or the UK or Canada despite having won major awards, including for its leading actors. Season 3 was released in November and Netflix did not supply any viewing data.
Executives at Netflix have said they plan to be more transparent with audience data to satisfy Hollywood producers and stars and to help viewers decide what to watch.
The limited details on what grabbed Netflix viewers’ attention this year came ahead of the company’s January 21 quarterly earnings report, which will disclose revenue and membership by region for the first time.
The streaming heavyweight is facing new competition, particularly from Walt Disney Co, which has been removing its movies from Netflix and putting them on the Disney+ streaming service.
Netflix shares have risen 23 per cent this year, the smallest annual rise in three years. The S&P 500 Index is up 29 per cent for the year.
1. Murder Mystery:
On June 18, Netflix reported that 30.9 million households had watched the film in the first 72 hours.
And while the it appears to have annihilated the competition, it still stands with a 6/10 rating on IMDb, a 45 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes and a low 38 per cent on Metacritic.
Murder Mystery went on to be nominated for three Teen Choice Awards and Four People’s Choice Awards.
It won one out of the seven – People’s Choice Award for Favorite Comedic Movie.
The film saw Jennifer and Adam’s characters get caught up in a murder investigation on a billionaire’s yacht.
2. Stranger Things – Season 3:
Stranger Things’ third season was revealed to be its most watched to date – seeing 64 million views in its first four weeks.
The third series was released over the July 4 weekend and saw an average of 26.4 million viewers in just the US.
The premiere episode saw 19.2 million viewers – a 7 per cent increase from the 17.1 million viewers of the premiere episode of season two.
According to Nielsen, by the end of the first release day on July 4, 824,000 viewers had already streamed the entire eight-episode season.
Stranger Things’ third season was revealed to be its most watched to date – seeing 64 million views in its first four weeks
Stranger Things season three, saw the kids, Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), Mike (Finn Wolfhard), Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin), Max (Sadie Sink), Will (Noah Schnapp) and Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) back together during the summer of 1985 where the monsters from the Upside Down make a return.
3. 6 Underground:
6 Underground landed the third spot in the overall most popular release and second spot as the most popular movie, following Murder Mystery.
The 128 minute action-thriller which had a $150 million budget, stars Ryan Reynolds, Melanie Laurent and Manuel Garcia-Rulfo.
6 underground sees Ryan’s character, an unnamed American billionaire and philanthropist, fake his own death to form an anonymous vigilante squad.
His plan takes place four years after he witnessed a horrible regime in Turgistan to take down criminals and terrorists that the governments continue to ignore.
He names himself, One, and recruits five other people to leave their pasts to join him as ghosts.
Together, they have, Two, a spy, Three, a hit-man, Four, a parkour runner/thief, Five, a doctor, and Six, a driver.
6 Underground landed the third spot in the overall most popular release and second spot as the most popular movie, following Murder Mystery (Ryan Reynolds is pictured left at the premiere in December). In the most popular nonfiction category, Marie Kondo’s, Tidying Up With Marie Kondo, right sparked the most joy, claiming the top spot
In the most popular nonfiction category, Marie Kondo’s, Tidying Up With Marie Kondo, sparked the most joy, claiming the top spot.
Conversations With a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes: Limited Series was the most popular documentary release, with Our Planet, FYRE: The Greatest Party That Never happened and Queen Bee’s, HOMECOMING: A film by Beyonce, following behind.
And despite being released on December 27, Kevin Hart’s Don’t F**k This Up was named the 10th most popular documentary release of 2019.
Dave Chappelle: Sticks and Stones, topped the comedy special, with Ellen DeGeneres’, Relatable’ not even making the top ten.
Kevin Hart: Irresponsible, Gabriel ‘Fluffy’ Iglesias: One Show Fits All and Ken Jeong: You Complete Me, Ho, followed behind.
Amy Schumer placed fifth for, Growing, and was joined by Wanda Sykes: Not Normal, at spot nine as the only females to make the list.
Three days in! Despite being released on December 27, Kevin Hart’s Don’t F**k This Up was named the 10th most popular documentary release of 2019