Adam McKay’s Netflix Original Don’t Look Up served as an alarming wake-up call ever since its release on December 24th, 2021. Quickly climbing up the Netflix charts, this disaster comedy with its biting satirical tone was almost on the verge of making history on Netflix with its viewing hours.
With a variety of zany characters played by a star-studded ensemble cast, including the likes of Jennifer Lawrence, Leonardo DiCaprio, Meryl Streep, Cate Blanchett, Timothee Chalamet, Jonah Hill, Rob Morgan, Tyler Perry, Mark Rylance, Ariana Grande and others, the film was an allegory for the current global climate change crisis.
The film saw a Michigan State University professor and his PhD student embark on an odyssey of warning the world against the impending doom after they chance upon the discovery of a gigantic comet hurtling towards the earth.
The film recorded the varied socio-political responses to catastrophe, mirroring the current world, the predicament of media and the hyper-capitalistic responses of the government and tech magnates amidst the burgeoning presence of social media.
The film had garnered up to 360 million hours of streaming within the first 28 days of its premiere, falling short of just 4 million viewers to achieve the crowning title of having the best-ever debut on Netflix – a very narrow miss, indeed!
Starring Ryan Reynolds, Gal Gadot and Dwayne Johnson, Rawson Marshall Thurber’s 2021 film Red Notice won the crowning title, with 364 million hours of streaming.
The two films are followed by Sandra Bullock’s 2018 film Bird Box which had made history and reigned supreme on the streaming service with 282 million hours of viewership.
