You know, I really do overestimate the intelligence, the wants and needs, of the average moviegoer. At the end of the day, the box-office is mostly composed of Marvel, DC, Sequels, Reboots and Animated flicks. Which is not to say all of these films are bad, far from it, but when you see even an audience-friendly movie like "Green Book" failing at the box-office, it does make you have to think twice about what constitutes a "successful" movie by today's standards at the box-office. You will nary find an original statement in the top 25 grossing movies of the year.
So, is it any surprise that Netflix's Kurt Russell-starring Santa Clause movie "The Christmas Chronicles" was announced to have passed the 20 million streams mark yesterday? Of course not. After all, some of the most popular Netflix movies this year came from the unlikeliest of sources: "Set It Up." "To All the Boys I've Loved Before" and "The Kissing Booth." You know the numbers for "The Christmas Chronicles" are huge because the streaming tends to usually never report its viewing numbers for original television and film offerings.
Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos announced the news on December 3, adding:
“Even in his successful career, [Kurt Russell] has never had that many people see one of his movies in the first week ever,” Sarandos said. “That’s a testimony to what we can bring to the market for storytellers today that we couldn’t have ten years ago.”
Sarandos compared “The Christmas Chronicles” release to a traditional theatrical release, and said the Netflix viewing numbers would translate into a first week gross of $200 million. “Even movies that go on to $1 billion don’t typically do that in the first week."
I don’t know about you, but I’m kind of looking forward to the “Michael” sequel. Whether Vantoine directs it or John Logan, it doesn’t matter—it’s an inevitable sh*tshow that will result from its making and release.