Red Notice beats Bird Box to become Netflix’s most watched movie

Production still from Red Notice with Ryan Reynolds, The Rock and Gal Gadot
Not only has Netflix produced some of the best TV series of the year, it has put out several amazing feature films too. Sandra Bullock’s Bird Box has held Netflix’s most streamed movie title since 2018. It had 282 million viewing hours in the first month. Newcomer Red Notice, a heist movie starring Dwayne Johnson, Gal Gadot and Ryan Reynolds, has now taken the top spot. Red Notice had 328.8 million viewing hours in 28 days. According to Netflix, 50 percent of all their subscribers have seen it. The data also showed that Red Notice passed Bird Box’s numbers in its first 18 days.

“Red Notice” brought in 328.8 million viewing hours, Netflix reports, topping the previous record held by Sandra Bullock’s “Bird Box” in 2018 with 282 million viewing hours.

Currently, 50 percent of all Netflix’s subscribers around the world have viewed “Red Notice.”

The film surpassed the previously held record in just 18 days, as opposed to “Bird Box” which took 4 weeks.

The film, which stars Johnson, Ryan Reynolds and Gal Gadot, was produced by Johnson’s Seven Bucks Productions and debuted on the streaming site earlier this month. It still remains in the top 10 films on the platform in 94 countries, according to Netflix.

[From CNN]

I liked both Bird Box and Red Notice for different reasons but they are both great movies. Bird Box was the thriller I needed during lock down and Sandra Bullock kicked ass. And despite not being Oscar material, Red Notice is definitely the fun we all need after a chaotic AF year. I definitely loved all of the double crossing, beautiful filming locales, and Ryan Reynolds’ off-colored humor. I’ll probably watch it a second time. It also seems that heist movies do well globally. Netflix’s Lupin , another heist-like TV series set in Paris, also did well this past year. The allure of getting away with stealing millions in art is a fantasy for many of us (I’m planning a heist as I type this). The only draw back of Red Notice for me was Gal Gadot. She sort of brought the movie down a bit. I wonder if Charlize Theron, Angelina Jolie or Danai Gurira would have been a better fit. Netlfix has the winning formula when it comes to movies and shows. I’m looking forward to whatever films they feature next. I wonder how long Red Notice will hold the top spot since it took three years for Bird Box to lose it. In the mean time, if you haven’t seen Red Notice yet and you want a good laugh, definitely check it out.

Production still from Bird Box with Trevante Rhodes and Sandra Bullock

Production still from Red Notice with Ryan Reynolds, The Rock and Gal Gadot

Production still from Red Notice with Ryan Reynolds

photos credit: Netflix

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35 Responses to “Red Notice beats Bird Box to become Netflix’s most watched movie”

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  1. Fanciful says:

    I hated bird box and never finished it.. Such crap. Red notice was at least slightly entertaining crap. Well, I finished it. I love action movies, it’s not my fav but we’ve been starved of content

    • BothSidesNow says:

      I have to admit I never watched Bird Box, but that’s only because I hate horror movies. As for Red Notice, it was meh, but the storyline/plot was well done. I also enjoyed the different cities and countries too! But the way that they ended it, left a tease that a second one is coming as well. Why do that? Just do one f___king movie and move one and come up with another idea. No need to milk one story line for 27 series!

      • Fanciful says:

        yes 100% agree! I like action movies because they often have great locations! It was an OK plot but again, starved of new content. I watched it and didn’t mind it. didn’t love it. They are absolutely making more. I think that’s a given. Mission impossible does a fantastic job with locations.

  2. Lauren says:

    I tried watching Red Notice but the product placement was so blatant and obvious that I found myself really distracted by it (the Alitalia one was especially bad because the company since filming has closed, has been bought by the state, and rebranded). I fell asleep 45 minutes into the movie and haven’t been able to get back into it.

  3. jo73c says:

    I thought Red Notice was terrible – from someone who actually liked 6 Underground – everyone from the scriptwriter to the Rock was phoning it in.
    They pretty much just jumbled up action movie clichés & pulled them out of a bag for dialogue.

    • Southern Fried says:

      You’re so right, phoned in and full of cliches. Terrible. I finished it but it was a chore. I like heist movies in general but this…

    • Sandii says:

      I could not watch the whole movie. Skipped to the end. And I actually like all three …

    • Léna says:

      It’s a bad movie. Ryan Reynolds and The Rock always play the same characters it’s so boring.

    • milliemollie says:

      I turned it off after 40 minutes or so. I couldn’t take it anymore. I have enough of Ryan Reynolds being Ryan Reynolds in movies.

  4. Jane says:

    Red Notice was fun, and I don’t know how intentional it was but I came away from it envisaging the main characters as a polyandrous triad, as Ryan Reynolds and the Rock had much more chemistry than either had with Gal Gadot. My main problem with it was the horrible historically anachronistic eggs – plenty of beautiful art survives from the Ptolemaic period, so I don’t know why the prop designers went with something more Faberge in style.

    I think the reason that art crime/heist films are so much fun is that in them it seems like a victimless crime committed by intelligent, cultured and suave people who are a delight to watch which is of course not the way it is in real life as most art crime is committed by either randoms, organised crime gangs, or terrorists, so much seedier and more depressing. And often in films the criminals do it out of a love for art rather than any other, baser motivations.

    • BeanieBean says:

      That whole egg thing bugged me, too! Of all the ‘wondrous things’ they could have replicated, they came up with something akin to the Russian Imperial eggs? For Cleopatra?! The tone of the movie reminds me of the Fox & Hare books by Stephanie Evanovich, with the FBI agent, in that case, being a woman. Silly fun, nobody dies, beautiful people & locations. And yes, in real life, art theft a different scenario altogether. This is a great book about art theft in general and Munch’s Scream in particular: “The Rescue Artist: A True Story of Art, Thieves, and the Hunt for a Missing Masterpiece”.

  5. manda says:

    It’s funny to me but the netflix algorithm never even offered me this movie! I’m literally just hearing about it in the last few days. So I haven’t seen it. I have, however, watched the christmas princes 1-3 multiple times in since thanksgiving

  6. Noki says:

    I guess there is a market for actors with absolutely zero range. I can pretty much imagine the whole movie with not even having to watch it.

  7. Lola Coasters says:

    The movie made me laugh quite a few times so that is really all I ask for from a comedy during the pandemic!

  8. Duchessl says:

    I watched it with zero expectations. I loved it. It’s just a fun movie and my brains could be set to off the whole time and I didnt cry for once like I do for dramas and movie that are critically acclaimed. I really liked the 3 of them. Gal is stunning.

  9. Twin falls says:

    I really like Dwayne Johnson and Ryan Reynolds and had high hopes for being entertained by this movie but it just didn’t make me laugh. It felt tired and just not that funny. I DNF.

    I’m hopeful Don’t Look Up is better.

  10. Kasalvy says:

    Here’s something that a lot of people don’t understand: Red Notice was not produced by Netflix. They didn’t make it. They’re the distributor. At one point Universal was interested.
    Netflix bought the finished film, and then they slapped on their company credit. They do that with a LOT of their programming as part of their contracts to be able to add “Netflix original” to the project.

    The movie itself honestly, was awful though, so they can keep it. Most don’t know that Netflix has become a terrible place to work, and their content even shows the struggle

  11. Case says:

    Even though I’m not big on generic action movies, I planned on watching this until Netflix showed me a clip from the film. It looked awful. All three actors are charming enough but always play the same characters, so I think I can guess how the story goes.

    I haven’t watched Bird Box but I have grown to love the author, Josh Malerman, over the last year. I’ll probably read the book then watch it, several years late lol.

  12. ncboudicca says:

    The sequel (because there WILL be a second one) needs more Agent Das – maybe a romance between her and Ryan Reynolds’ character. I love Ritu Arya on Umbrella Academy and thought she was shamefully underused in Red Notice. As for the rest of the movie, it was pleasant and untroubling and funny in points and full of lovely locations/people, which is all I wanted from it, so I was satisfied. 🙂

  13. Lawcatb says:

    I watched it while prepping for Thanksgiving dinner, and thoroughly enjoyed it. I’ll probably watch it again at some point. I expected it to be bad, so was pleasantly surprised when it was actually entertaining.

  14. cassandra says:

    I really enjoyed it 🤷‍♀️

    But since about 2019ish I’ve only really wanted to watch light and fluffy content. I think the most serious I’ve gone in the past year was The Queen’s Gambit

  15. Grant Woodby says:

    I thought Red Notice was pretty much garbage. However, couldn’t disagree more about Gal Gadot. It actually looked like she was having fun and not phoning it in like the other two. She was the best part of an otherwise completely forgettable movie.

  16. detritus says:

    Neither Gadot nor the Rock can create chemistry with their screen partners. Ritu Arya as Lt Das was far more enjoyable to watch.

  17. FHMom says:

    It was not a great movie, but my family and I enjoyed it a lot. The actors pretty much carried the film.

  18. K says:

    I watched it because it checked all of my childhood nostalgia/current vicarious Granny wannabe archeologist/ heist master boxes. Is that a thing? Anyway after 50 hrs of work week crazy time it was fun. I love a good faux-Egyptian start.

    • BeanieBean says:

      Absolutely, that’s a thing! 🙂 (Archaeologist here, not a granny but old enough to be one!, and have not turned to crime. Yet.) 😉

  19. Lululu says:

    I thought it was boring. The plot and a lot of the humor just didn’t connect. And Ryan, Dwayne and Gal get only a B for chemistry.

    • Anners says:

      Ya…I was ready to be entertained by mindless hijinx and I just couldn’t get into it. I like Gal Gadot, but def agree that Danai Gurira or Charlize Theron would’ve been better. Ryan Reynolds’ schtick is becoming tiresome.

  20. L4Frimaire says:

    Never saw Bird Box. This was a fun and completely forgettable movie. Gal Gadot looked good in it and it was funny and over the top. lt kind of reminded me of an action version of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels with explosions.

  21. The Voice says:

    5 minutes in and I wanted to punch Ryan Reynolds in the face. Big star power but silly plot and even sillier eggs. They were enormous! Loved the various locations (travel escape) and I’m glad we got to see all of that. Totally agree that there was very little chemistry between Gal and DJ. A good heist and character development movie is 1999 The Thomas Crown Affair version with Pierce Brosnan and Rene Russo. Hot damn Rene was sooooo amazing in that movie. I couldn’t take my eyes off her!

    • Alarmjaguar says:

      Not exactly a heist movie, but Spy with Melissa McCarthy is hilarious and such fun!

      • The Voice says:

        Yes, Spy was so good!! Melissa McCarthy was hilarious in it. All these great characters and funny situations. I’m looking forward to Spy 2!

  22. Laura says:

    We only watched the first 30 minutes before we got interrupted and haven’t finished. I like all these actors in other things, but for some reason they felt wooden in this. Didn’t help that I heard a podcast that said they actually filmed all these “international” locales on a soundstage in Georgia.