Netflix unveiled the first big data dump of 2024 on Thursday, and the engagement report for everything watched in the first half of the year proved that subscribers really love three things: Millie Bobby Brown, sharks and animated movies.
Some of the data points were unsurprising – we knew Brown’s “Damsel” was a huge hit, and indeed it was the most-watched film for the first half of the year. But others were interesting, like just how heavily Netflix’s streaming partnership with Universal factors into what’s being watched and the relative success of Zack Snyder’s “Rebel Moon” films.
Below, we thumb through the biggest winners on the film side of the data dump.
Millie Bobby Brown and “Damsel”
Netflix has invested heavily in “Stranger Things” star Brown’s career over the last few years, picking up Legendary’s “Enola Holmes” (in which she stars and produces) and greenlighting a sequel. “Damsel” is the third film out of their partnership, and while the fantasy film was poorly reviewed, it played like gangbusters on the service to the tune of 143.9 million views. The promise of Brown as a princess who must claw her way out of a dragon pit to seek revenge on the royal family that betrayed her was exactly what subscribers wanted, apparently. And look for the partnership between Brown and Netflix to continue – she stars in the Russo Brothers-directed sci-fi film “The Electric State,” which hits the service next year.
Kevin Hart and “Lift”
Actor and comedian Kevin Hart is lauded by many as one of Hollywood’s hardest working multi-hyphenates, and in between stand-up specials and creating and starring in a Peacock miniseries, he squeezed in the Netflix heist film “Lift.” The film proved to be a mega-hit, amassing 129.4 million views after dropping in January. It’s not the first Hart-Netflix team-up – he also starred in and produced 2021’s dramedy “Fatherhood” – but the success of “Lift” likely means it won’t be the last.
“Society of the Snow” and “Under Paris”
Further underlining the international nature of Netflix’s subscriber base, the third and fourth most-watched films of the first half of 2024 were not in the English language. J.A. Bayona’s Oscar-nominated and Spanish-language “Society of the Snow” pulled in 103.8 million views for the true-story drama about a Uruguayan rugby team stranded after a plane crash, while the French-language “Under Paris” – a horror movie about sharks swimming in the Seine – amassed 84.7 million views. Netflix subscribers are eager for a good story, no matter the language.
Universal Pictures
The licensing deal between Netflix and Universal Pictures for Universal’s animated films continues to pay dividends. Three of the top 10 films for the first half of 2024 were Universal movies, with “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” amassing 80.3 million views – all the more impressive given it was only streaming on Netflix in the U.S. And the top third of Netflix’s data dump list is littered with library DreamWorks Animation and Illumination titles like “Minions,” “Despicable Me 3,” “The Boss Baby” and “Shrek.” Speaking of which…
Animated Films
Animation is king on Netflix. 18 of the top 50 titles on the list are animated films, most of which are library titles from deals with Universal and Sony – although Adam Sandler’s Netflix original “Leo” also landed in the upper echelon with 53.9 million views following its debut last November while Netflix’s “Woody Woodpecker Goes to Camp” took the No. 12 slot with 57.4 million views (who knew?).
Jennifer Lopez
Jennifer Lopez’s sci-fi thriller “The Mother” was the most-watched film on Netflix for all of 2023, and she’s back on the list again with this year’s sci-fi thriller “Atlas.” Released in May, the film pulled in 77.1 million views in just two months – enough to notch the No. 7 slot on the list. Moreover, despite being released in May of 2023, “The Mother” racked up another 27.2 million views, scoring the No. 51 position. That “old” movie scored more views than Jerry Seinfeld’s new comedy “Unfrosted” and the animated superhero film “Ultraman: Rising.”
Zack Snyder’s “Rebel Moon”
While Zack Snyder’s expensive two-part sci-fi epic “Rebel Moon” got off to a rocky start with the release of “Part 1” last December, April’s release of “Part 2” lifted both films to score the No. 14 and No. 15 spots on the list – “Part 2” pulled in 55.8 million views while “Part 1” picked up 54.2 million views. While the price tag likely means Snyder’s dreams of continuing the franchise are dead, the films didn’t do as badly as some suspected.
