Netflix’s ‘The Cloverfield Paradox’ Has Pulled In Over 5 Million Viewers Since Super Bowl Sunday

It was the movie release heard round the world. On Super Bowl Sunday (or, Sunday, as it was called in the rest of the world), Netflix dropped a short teaser for “The Cloverfield Paradox” during the game, and then put the whole damn movie on their service after the Philadelphia Eagles celebrated their victory. It was another hype building move for the industry disruptors, but it didn’t necessarily have a happy ending. The movie is pretty bad, and most of the conversation that followed centered around how Netflix spared Paramount — who were originally going to release the movie — the embarrassment of a theatrical flop.

Well, fast forward to this week, and Nielsen has crunched the numbers, and according to their data (remember, Netflix doesn’t officially release any numbers so who knows how accurate this is), “The Cloverfield Paradox” notched 2.8 million U.S. viewers in its first three days, and 5 million across seven days. Compared to “Bright,” which reportedly earned 11 million viewers across its first three days, this would be considered a disappointment, but the circumstances are quite different.

Netflix marketed the hell out of “Bright,” with multiple trailers, an official soundtrack, and even sent the cast around the world to promote the blockbuster. And then there’s the Will Smith factor — no matter what you think of his films, he’s still a bonafide A-lister internationally, so it’s not a surprise those viewership numbers are high. By comparison, “The Cloverfield Paradox” had a single teaser before it arrived online, and zero big-name stars among the ensemble. Moreover, I think people forget that at least by current standards, the franchise is still pretty niche: “Cloverfield” earned $170 million worldwide, while “10 Cloverfield Lane” tallied $110 million globally.

What determines a hit for Netflix is different than anybody else in Hollywood because, at the end of the day, it’s really a subscribers game for the streaming giant. Of course, they want their own product to be compelling, but it’s the overall bang for the buck that customers will care about. One dud amongst a plethora of options won’t rock the boat. But if those duds start adding up, they there’ll be a problem. [Variety]