Netflix’s Murder Mystery enjoys record-breaking opening weekend

Staff Reporter

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Murder Mystery had a record-breaking opening weekend on Netflix, with more than 30 million accounts watching the movie, the streaming giant has announced.

Netflix has increasing begun releasing viewing statistics for its original movies in recent months, as it looks to position itself as a major player in the film business, particularly after its Oscars success with Roma. Bird Box racked up 45 million views in its opening week, the streaming service announced earlier this year, breaking the record for highest views for a Netflix original during its initial release. Now, Murder Mystery is promising to go several million better, with 30,869,863 accounts watching in its first 3 days – the biggest opening weekend ever for a Netflix Film.

13,374,914 accounts in the US and Canada, and 17,494,949 more worldwide streamed the film.

The figures arrive as Netflix also conducts a trial run of releasing weekly lists of the 10 most popular titles in the UK. All this data should be taken with a pinch of salt: Netflix’s count for a “viewer” is anyone who completes at least 70 per cent of one episode of a TV series or 70 per cent of a film – an indication, perhaps, of how much time people typically spend watching a single title on Netflix, or of how valuable attention spans have become in a competitive online age.

Nonetheless, Murder Mystery does feature Adam Sandler, who has been singled out by Netflix as one of its most popular stars, with the streaming service even inking a deal for multiple original movies from the actor. Written by James Vanderbilt and directed by Kyle Newacheck, the movie also reunited him with Just Go With It co-star Jennifer Aniston. They play a New York cop and his wife who go on a European vacation, only to wind up framed for the death of an elderly billionaire.

“Jennifer Aniston and Adam Sandler are on entertaining form in this predictable but fun comedy thriller,” we wrote in our review. “Don’t be surprised when Netflix orders a sequel; do be surprised that you’d look forward to it.”