“The School for Good and Evil,” adapted from the internationally bestselling book series of the same name by Soman Chainani and directed by Paul Feig, has debuted atop the Netflix Top 10 English film list with 78.83 million hours viewed in its first week on the streamer.
The epic tale, which stars Kerry Washington, Charlize Theron, Laurence Fishburne, Michelle Yeoh and up-and-comers Sophia Anne Caruso and Sofia Wylie, landed on Netflix Oct 19 and enchanted viewers across the globe, landing in the Top 10 in 93 countries.
Behind “The School for Good and Evil” sits “The Curse of Bridge Hollow,” starring “Stranger Things” breakout Priah Ferguson, with 25.34M hours viewed. Mystery-thriller “Luckiest Girl Alive” — adapted from Jessica Knoll’s best-selling novel and starring Mila Kunis, came in third with 19.3M hours viewed. Inspired by real-life events, “The Stranger” had 17.04 million hours viewed. The true-crime drama is a gripping tale that chronicles one of the most notorious crimes in Australian history. Adapted from the Stephen King novel and produced by Ryan Murphy, “Mr. Harrigan’s Phone” had 5.77M hours viewed.
On the TV side, Ryan Murphy’s reign continues, but this week with real-estate thriller, “The Watcher.” The series topped the English TV List for the second week in a row with 148.24M hours viewed for a total of 273.2M hours viewed since it launched. In its first week at the streamer, the series garnered 125 million hours viewed. “The Watcher” was also number 1 in 65 countries.
“The Watcher” stars Naomi Watts and Bobby Cannavale as a couple caught in an unnerving stalker’s web. The seven-episode limited series is based on the story of the real-life couple who was harassed by the titular unnamed individual. Upon moving into their dream home in the East Coast suburbs, Nora and Dean Brannock receive menacing letters that cast suspicions on all of their idiosyncratic neighbors, some of whom might have something to gain by forcing them out of town. The show, inspired by the 2018 New York Magazine article of the same name, landed in the Top 10 in 90 countries upon its Oct. 13 release date, according to Netflix.
Murphy’s “Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story,” which was dethroned from the top slot by “The Watcher,” had 69.11M hours viewed and held its standing as the #2 series on the Most Popular List with 856.2M total hours viewed. The controversial series has been on Netflix for almost a month now.
Based on Tembi Locke’s memoir of the same name, the limited series “From Scratch” debuted with 32.23M hours viewed. Starring Zoe Saldaña, the cross-cultural love story landed in the Top 10 in 74 countries. Season 3 of “Love is Blind” returned with a new group looking for romance with 24.89M hours viewed. “The Midnight Club” crew pulled in 21.65M hours viewed. Volume 3 of “Unsolved Mysteries” returned with 18.93M hours viewed. Paranormal reality series “28 Days Haunted” entered the list with 12.98M hours viewed. Fans took a trip “down under” as “Wild Croc Territory” with Matt Wright debuted with 11.55M hours viewed.