What are viewers in the mood for now that the holidays have wrapped up? Dark comedy horror flicks, apparently. “The Menu” took the top spot in our latest rankings of the most streamed movies in the U.S., according to data from Whip Media’s TV Time app, a TV and movie tracking app with more than 24 million global registered users.
“The Menu” hit HBO Max on Jan. 3 — and fans immediately gravitated towards it. The movie — which has earned $77 million and counting globally at the box office to date — leapfrogged Netflix’s “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery,” which had led Whip Media’s rankings the previous two weeks.
The rise of “The Menu” pushed “Glass Onion” and Netflix down to second place for the week. Netflix also grabbed the third slot with “The Pale Blue Eye,” Christian Bale’s new thriller about a detective investigating several 19th century murders at the U.S. Military Academy.
“The Pale Blue Eye” has received positive reviews for the most part – including in this very publication, which complimented director Scott Cooper for spearheading “A film with a gimmicky premise but genuine dramatic weight, anchored by handsome filmmaking and striking performances.”
Overall, Netflix “won” the week with five of the 10 most-streamed movies being on its service.
That includes “Bullet Train,” which has been a consistent performer for Netflix. In fact, its sixth place finish this week is the lowest the Brad Pitt flick has landed on Whip Media’s ranker since it hit Netflix in early December.
A few other movies that have had strong runs of late: “Black Adam” on HBO Max and “Top Gun: Maverick” on Paramount+ were the fourth and fifth ranked movies of the week, respectively.
Speaking of strong runs, it’s been a good month for Paramount+. Not only has “Maverick” been a mainstay of Whip Media’s top five most-streamed movies each week, but “1923” and “Tulsa King” were also the two most-streamed TV shows of last week, too. It turns out betting on Harrison Ford, Helen Mirren and Sly Stallone to pull in viewers in 2023 is still a good strategy.
Sean Burch is a marketing insights analyst at Whip Media, a WrapPRO partner. Click here for more from Whip Media.
