Netflix releases list of top 10 most-watched original films ever

There's a few surprises on there...

Netflix has released a list of its ten most popular original films of all time.

The streaming service is notoriously secretive about its viewing figures, but often releases select numbers when particular films or TV series perform well.

For instance, Netflix stated that True Crime docuseries Tiger King has been watched by 64 million households, and that the Henry Cavill-starring video game adaptation The Witcher notched 76 million views.

The most-watched original Netflix film of all time was the Chris Hemsworth thriller Extraction, released this April. Netflix claims that the film amassed a total of 99 million views.

Also making the list are the Sandra Bullock-starring thriller Bird Box and Michael Bay’s high-budget crime film 6 Underground.

Martin Scorsese’s 210-minute-long gangster film The Irishman is by some distance the most critically acclaimed film to make the list, coming in at number six.

Otherwise, the top 10 list may hold a few surprises for those who associate the Netflix Original brand with acclaimed films from high-profile directors, like Alfonso Cuarón’s Roma or the Coen Brothers’ The Ballad of Buster Scruggs.

Here is the list in full, along with the total number of viewers:

1. Extraction – 99 Million

2. Bird Box – 89 Million

3. Spenser Confidential – 85 Million

4. 6 Underground – 83 Million

5. Murder Mystery – 83 Million

6. The Irishman – 64 Million

7. Triple Frontier – 63 Million

8. The Wrong Missy – 59 Million

9. The Platform – 56 Million

10. The Perfect Date – 55 Million

However, it’s important to note that the service picks and chooses which titles it releases stats for, with a view to highlighting its successes – and that it has recently changed how it registers views.

While the service used to count a view when a user streamed at least 70 per cent of a title, it now registers them when any account has watched at least two minutes of a film or TV show.

Netflix’s belief is that if someone watches two minutes of something, they have made an intentional choice to keep it on. Autoplay is not taken into account.