The Old Guard: Charlize Theron celebrates as film smashes Netflix records

Movie is currently on track to reach 72m households in a month

Charlize Theron has been celebrating after Netflix announced that her new film The Old Guard is already among the platform’s top 10 most popular movies.

The thriller, which was released on 10 July, stars Theron as centuries-old warrior Andromache of Scythia.

On Friday (17 July), Netflix tweeted: “The Old Guard is breaking records! The Charlize Theron blockbuster is already among the top 10 most popular Netflix films ever – and Gina Prince-Bythewood is the first Black female director on the list.

“The film is currently on track to reach 72M households in its first 4 weeks!”

Theron then heavily hinted she would be celebrating the news with booze, by sharing a meme of herself in character downing a bottle of vodka with the caption “Friday night”, alongside a photo of her character lying dead and covered in blood with the caption “Monday morning”.

She captioned the post: “I feel this.”

The Independent’s critic Clarisse Loughrey awarded the film four stars, writing that it is “mature and sincere” and “offers a welcome twist on the superhero film”.

She added: "It places its LGBT+ characters front-and-centre in a way that instantly puts the rest of the genre to shame."

Directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood, The Old Guard is adapted from the graphic novel series of the same name by Greg Rucka, and also stars Chiwetel Ejiofor, Matthias Schoenaerts and If Beale Street Could Talk’s KiKi Layne.