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Pablo Larraín’s opera biopic “Maria” is the latest and last of this year’s Netflix‘s Oscar top Best Picture and acting contender films to stream on the service. And like “The Piano Lesson” (six days in their domestic movie top 10, highest #5) and “Emilia Pérez” (never listed), “Maria” had a short shelf life among top-viewed titles. It debuted at #4, placed for two more days, then dropped off before this weekend. (The weekly foreign charts come out on Tuesdays, so it’s possible better results elsewhere).
The streamer continues to do very well in Oscar nominations and has won top prizes. But Netflix has so far failed to win Best Picture or either lead acting prizes. The company’s top contenders always get some theatrical play (more than they are given credit for due to their decision to hide the grosses, but less than if top circuits like AMC would agree to play them). But in that absence, how they do on the site remains a gauge of how popular they are, and public interest is always a nice arrow for any awards campaign to have in its quiver.
The VOD top 10s this week at iTunes (ranking by transactions daily) and Fandango (weekly, by revenue, favoring more expensive recent PVOD releases) are more conventional. Newly released “Venom: The Last Dance” is #1 on both charts, a counterbalance to Sony’s just-released “Kraven the Hunter,” which bombed over the weekend with only $11 million in U.S./Canada gross. Both are offshoots of the Marvel franchise.
‘Emilia Pérez’ Courtesy of NetflixWith a very crowded Best Actress field, the quick in-and-out for “Maria” won’t likely be a boost for Angelina Jolie’s chances, though based on past history perhaps not a negative either. Same with “Piano Lesson,” even more so with “Emilia Pérez” with its high-end acclaim and international appeal.
But following Netflix’s online promotion, compared to how theatrical distributors push visibility for their contenders, is eye-opening. Since “Emilia” debuted two weeks ago, the Netflix homepage has given it minimal advertising. Even its surprise record haul in Golden Globe nominations hasn’t managed to rise to the level of mentioning, at least from a daily check since their announcement.
Netflix originals not named “Maria” take up six of the slots on their current top 10, led by veteran action director Jaume Collet-Serra’s “Carry-On.” The Amblin Productions thriller actually got better reviews than “Maria,” though it is not among the 24 films listed on Netflix’s awards For Your Consideration webpage. That it’s more popular than “Maria” isn’t that big a surprise. What is though is that it knocked out Sony’s “It Ends with Us,” which, as expected, opened at #1, but by Saturday, was replaced by “Carry-On.”
The other new original in the Netflix top 10 is the South African comedy “Disaster Holiday,” currently #6. Five of the list are Christmas-themed (the animated “That Christmas” best at #4). Meantime, nine of the 20 slots on the two VOD charts (counting “Terrifier 3”) are also Yuletide-set.
‘The Best Christmas Pageant Ever’Allen Fraser/LionsgateThat includes the ever-strong perennials “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” (second at iTunes) and “The Grinch” on both, “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” and “Home Alone” on iTunes, and the newly released “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” (Lionsgate) also on two (#3 at Fandango). The other strong new opener is “Heretic” (A24), #2 at iTunes, #3 at Fandango. All three new releases rent for $19.99 for 48 hours.
Not showing up is “Red One” (Amazon MGM), which has initially skipped PVOD for an Amazon Prime streaming exclusive. The film, after only 27 days in theaters, dropped only 38 percent there this weekend despite its free availability in millions of Prime subscriber homes.
Clint Eastwood’s “Juror #3 in its second week held on to #4 at iTunes, #5 at Fandango.
Top 10s
iTunes ranks films daily by number of transactions, while Fandango at Home lists by revenue. The listings below are for Monday, December 9 (iTunes) and the week of December 9-15 (Fandango).
The distributors listed are current rights owners. Prices for all titles are for lowest for either rental or download.
iTunes
1. Venom: The Last Dance (Sony) – $19.99
2. How the Grinch Stole Christmas (Universal) – $3.99
3. Heretic (A24) – $19.99
4. Juror # 2 (WBD) – $9.99
5. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (Universal) – $7.99
6. The Best Christmas Pageant Ever (Lionsgate) – $19.99
7. The Grinch (Universal) – $3.99
8. The Wild Robot (Universal) – $19.99
9. Conclave (Focus) – $19.99
10. Home Alone (Disney) – $3.99
Fandango at Home
1. Venom: The Last Dance (Sony) – $19.99
2. Heretic (A24) – $19.99
3. The Best Christmas Pageant Ever (Lionsgate) – $19.99
4. How the Grinch Stole Christmas (Universal) – $3.99
5 Juror # 2 (WBD) – $9.99
6. Joker: Folie à Deux (WBD) – $5.99
7. Dear Santa (Paramount) – $14.99
8. The Wild Robot (Universal) – $19.99
9. Terrifier 3 (Cineverse) – $9.99
10. Elevation (Vertical) – $19.99
Netflix Movies
These are the most-viewed, current rankings on Netflix’s domestic daily chart on December 16. Originals include both Netflix-produced and acquired titles it initially presents in the U.S. Netflix publishes its own worldwide weekly (and individual country) top 10s on Tuesdays based on time viewed, and usually includes films for which it doesn’t have domestic rights.
1. Carry-On (Netflix original)
2. It Ends with Us (2024 theatrical release)
3. Subservience (2024 theatrical release)
4. That Christmas (Netflix British animated original)
5. Our Little Secret (Netflix original)
6. Disaster Holiday (Netflix South African original)
7. The Star (2017 theatrical release)
8. Mary (Netflix original)
9. The Christmas Chronicles (2018 Netflix original)
10. We’re the Millers (2013 theatrical release)
English (US) ·