The Cloverfield Paradox made its surprise debut about two weeks ago, giving Netflix users a chance to watch the blockbuster from the comfort of their own home. And now, we have somewhat of an idea of just how many people checked out the film.
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A new report from Nielsen (via The Hollywood Reporter) has revealed that 2.8 million people watched Paradox in the first three days after its release, with that total climbing to 5 million in the first week of viewing.
While these numbers are not completely conclusive (especially since Netflix rarely releases its own data), this estimation from Nielsen is interesting on multiple levels. For one thing, it appears that Paradox was watched by way less people than Netflix’s Bright, which reportedly took in eleven million viewers over the course of just three days.
But interestingly, Paradox‘s viewers would have almost spelled success in a traditional box office setting. If the 2.8 million people had all bought a ticket to see Paradox in a theater, that would have roughly translated to somewhere between $20-30 million, putting it several million ahead of that week’s actual box office winners, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle and Maze Runner: The Death Cure.
But in a way, these numbers for Paradox are almost one-of-a-kind, considering the circumstances in which the film was released. There’s an argument to be made that while more casual viewers were willing to check out Paradox through Netflix, the film might not have motivated those same viewers to drive out to a theater and spend money, meaning the hypothetical box office gross would have not been as high.
This means that there’s no telling what Paradox‘s actual box office numbers would have been like, either in this past week or in the original week it planned to release (which, weirdly enough, would have placed it against another Dwayne Johnson picture, Rampage). And with Netflix reportedly paying $50 million for the rights to the film, it’s a mystery whether or not their numbers will indicate that the film was a success.
In a way, these preliminary numbers will only continue the discourse around Paradox, a film that has garnered a lot of debate over the past two-ish weeks. While some argue that the film is a let down for “Clover-verse” fans, others have highlighted the film’s connections to the other installments of the franchise, and have seen the film as a good sign of what could be to come.
The Cloverfield Paradox is now streaming on Netflix.
