Have you watched the new Netflix original horror movie Bird Box yet? If not, you may be the only one. On Friday, Netflix announced a seriously impressive statistic — more than 45 million account holders have already watched the Sandra Bullock film, smashing any previous records for a Netflix film’s first week.
Of course, since Netflix doesn’t typically release data about its viewership, it’s hard to say just how large of a margin Bird Box left between it and the second most successful movie (whatever that may be). Still, suffice it to say that Bird Box is kind of a big deal for the streaming service.
Took off my blindfold this morning to discover that 45,037,125 Netflix accounts have already watched Bird Box — best first 7 days ever for a Netflix film! pic.twitter.com/uorU3cSzHR
— Netflix Tudum (@NetflixTudum) December 28, 2018
A spokesperson for Netflix confirmed to The Verge that they only count an account as having watched a movie “once a view surpasses 70 percent of the total running time (including credits).” So naysayers can’t claim Netflix is being grandiose because, really, who would watch 70 percent of the movie and not circle back around to finish at some point? Even if you stop at 70 percent, you’ve essentially seen a movie.
Also not a valid debunking theory: that the figure of 45 million includes multiple watches from the same account. Per Netflix, “each ‘account’ may include multiple views and viewers but is only counted once.”
So, let’s give credit where credit is due.
Whether you thought the movie was fantastic and terrifying (like we did) or you were less than impressed, you watched it. Bird Box remains a phenomenon because of how many people watched and how quickly it went viral — along with roughly a million memes created in its honor.
In case you somehow missed it, the post-apocalyptic movie follows Bullock’s character, Malorie, who must find a way to survive and keep her two children safe when an insidious entity starts decimating the population. Oh, did we mention Bullock and her kids are blindfolded for much of the movie? The suspense factor is next level.
Guys, is #BirdBox the scariest movie this year ? 😱 I vote YES
— Reese Witherspoon (@ReeseW) December 28, 2018
Ironically, despite essentially spending the last week terrifying audiences, Bullock and her costar, Sarah Paulson (who plays her sister in the movie), admit that they personally hate being scared.
“I don’t like to be scared. I hate being scared. I hate people who think it’s funny to stand behind doors and scare you because they know you hate being scared,” Bullock told People, to which Paulson responded, “Like Ellen DeGeneres?”
And, well, she has a point. DeGeneres is definitely fueled by human screams. Often Paulson’s. Hey, who knows — maybe she’ll show up in the Bird Box sequel.
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