“Have you watchedBird Boxyet?” was a common refrain this holiday season. NotBumblebee. Not even reallyMary Poppins Returns. It wasBird Boxthat seemed to permeate social media during the holiday frame, when plenty of folks are home with their families and looking for some kind of entertainment. Indeed, Netflix saysover 45 million accounts watchedBird Boxin the first week of release, making it the best first seven days ever for a Netflix original film. Now, since Netflix doesn’t release its data, there’s no way to confirm that this is indeed true, although they did offera few more specifics, explaining that a view count for an original movie is only tallied once the user has watched at least 70% of the film. And a quick glance at social media confirmed that a not insubstantial number of people were certainly watching the thing.
ButBird Boxalso kind of came out of nowhere. It was released on December 21st with somewhat muted fanfare, asAlfonso Cuarón’s Oscar-hopefulRomawas the Netflix original film that seemed to dominate most of the conversation in early December. But almost immediately onceBird Boxwas released, the internet was flooded withBird Boxmemes (many created by Netflix itself), and if we’re to take Netflix at its word, the film was watched bya lotof people. It was a hit! If not exactly an accidental one.
The third week of December is always a prime moviegoing time. Kids get out of school for winter break, people go home to spend time with family from Christmas to New Year’s, and with a lot of free time on peoples’ hands, they go to the movies. This is why, save forSolo(which, it should be noted, underwhelmed at the box office)Star Warshas set up shop in December.The Force Awakensscored the biggest opening weekend of all time on December 18th, then continued makinginsaneamounts of money in the following weeks—i.e. Christmas and New Year’s.The Last Jedievenroseat the box office during its third weekend of release, the December 22-25th frame. Films likeAvatar,The Lord of the Rings,Jumanji, and evenThe Greatest Showmanall found smashing success by hitting theaters in that mid-December frame. AndBird Boxmarked Netflix’s first major entry into this specific Hollywood arena.
In many ways, 2018 was the year Netflix got serious about its original films. Previous features likeBeasts of No NationandMudboundperformed solidly, but during that time most folks still viewed Netflix as a place to watch TV shows. In 2018, however, we saw Netflix release buzzworthy hits likeTo All the Boys I’ve Loved BeforeandSet It Up, “prestige” films from noted auteurs likeThe Ballad of Buster Scruggsand the aforementionedRoma, and nowBird Box, Netflix’s bona fide holiday hit.
The streaming service looked at the holiday corridor, noticed the absence ofStar Wars, and decided to plop down its twisty thriller starring Oscar-winnerSandra Bullock. The genius of the decision is thatBird Box, in that release window, is largely critic proof. Reviews have been somewhat mixed (it’s at 47% with Top Critics on Rotten Tomatoes), but when you’re home with your family for the holidays, looking for something to watch together, aQuiet Place-like thriller starring Sandra Bullock is an easy “yes,” regardless of what the critics are saying andespeciallywhen your Twitter timeline has been flooded withBird Boxmemes (many of which, again, were created by Netflix itself). What’s the worst that could happen? After all, it’s not like you’re spending money on individual tickets.
And while it’s true that Netflix released another movie start-driven original film in the same pre-Christmas corridor in 2017 withBright, a fantasy buddy cop thriller starringWill SmithoppositeJoel Edgertonas an orc is not nearly as accessible asBird Box.Indeed, you can pitch the premise ofBird Boxto your family in a single sentence.Bright, well, not so much. So whileDavid Ayer’s film was apparently popular enough for Netflix to greenlight a sequel, it wasn’t exactly the meme-generator thatBird Boxbecame.
While one could maybe argue Netflix “manufactured” buzz forBird Boxwith meme-overload, they simply lit the spark that then spread organically. In 2018, with a film that’s not in wide theatrical release, social media buzz is Netflix’s version ofAquamanTV spots playing on every commercial break. The visibility of said memes make some folks feel like they’re missing out on something, and if they already have a Netflix subscription, why not just watchBird Box? Again, especially with noStar Warsat the theater.
Indeed,Mary Poppins ReturnsandBumblebeecertainly didn’t bomb, but they aren’t the mega-sized hits the studios were likely hoping to find over the holiday break.Aquamanwas this season’s only true breakout hit (thoughSpider-Verseshows signs of strong word-of-mouth), so if folks chose the DC film as their theatrical outing, they may have felt inclined to stay home, save their money, and fire up Netflix in the days that followed. And with the streaming service releasing a brand new original film just before Christmas, one with an intriguing premise, a mystery box, and a movie star in the lead role, there’s automatically something new to watch.
We already know full-well that Netflix uses its algorithm to guide decisions, so it stands to reason the release date forBird Boxwas no accident. Moreover, now that the film is—according to Netflix—a huge hit, we can probably expect another new Netflix movie just in time for the holidays next year, even withStar Wars: Episode IXhitting theaters. Indeed, if 2018 was the year Netflix got serious about original films, 2019 is shaping up to be even bigger as new titles from filmmakers likeMichael Bay,Martin Scorsese, andSteven Soderberghare on tap for release. We don’t yet know what the nextBird Boxwill be, but you can bet this was no fluke. If the streaming service has its way, “Watch the new Netflix movie” will become your latest holiday tradition.
