During the current worldwide pandemic, movie studios are no longer providing box-office figures because theaters have been shut down around the nation and the world. Because we are less interested in the actual figures themselves and more interested in what people are watching over the weekends, each week we will dive into Most Streamed and Bestseller Lists on Fandango, iTunes, Netflix, and Hulu to pinpoint the weekend’s most watched films.
We have reached that point in the pandemic when the VOD charts begin to look the same each week, as we are seeing fewer new releases (although, that will change in May). There has been some movement within the top five, but it’s among the same titles. Bad Boys for Life is back in the number one spot, bumping Trolls World Tour to number two. Tiffany Haddish and Rose Byrne’s Like a Boss, which was in the top five two weeks ago but fell into the teens last week, is back at number three this weekend, while Sonic the Hedgehog claims the four-spot, followed by Vin Diesel’s Bloodshot, which has been all over the charts since its release.
With relatively little new competition, it is nice to see that some smaller movies that wouldn’t otherwise get much notice break out, like Will Forte’s amusing indie ghost comedy, Extra Ordinary. It’s also interesting to see which older movies viewers return to for comfort, like the Harry Potter movies, Pretty Woman, The Greatest Showman, and some dystopian/end of the world films that feel right at home now, like Contagion, Seth Rogen’s The End of the World and Hunger Games, all of which are in the VOD top 100 this week over on Fandango.
The iTunes rental charts are about the same, too, but it is worth noting that Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time … In Hollywood has jumped into the number two spot this weekend as it is being offered for a $.99 rental.
Meanwhile, Parasite — a record-breaking streamer for Hulu — rightfully continues to lead all movies on that streaming network, although Isn’t it Romantic (a Rebel Wilson rom-rom with Liam Hemsworth, Adam Devine, and some pretty good reviews) has taken the number two spot. It is followed by the family film, Abominable, which jumped from six to three this weekend, and I’m going to go ahead and take credit for that after my recommendation last week.
There is, however, a lot of churn over on Netflix, as it continues to pump out a ton of new content and remains the pandemic salvation for many. This weekend, it debuted the Chris Hemsworth action film (co-written by Joe Russo), Extraction, and it quickly took the top spot with mixed reviews (63 percent) over on Rotten Tomatoes. We don’t know what the numbers are on that, but I imagine they’re big, probably even more than the 85 million people that Netflix reported watching Spenser Confidential
The very-well reviewed new family film, The Willoughby’s, took the number two spot. It scored 90 percent on Rotten Tomatoes and features Will Forte, Maya Rudolph, and Terry Crews, among the voice cast. I haven’t seen it yet, but my twin daughters are already planning a virtual sleepover around it.
Meanwhile, Despicable Me, Green Hornet, and Angel Has Fallen, which started streaming on Netflix in recent weeks, have taken the 3-5 slots, followed by last week’s number two film, Code 8.
Next weekend will see the release of Guns Akimbo — a Daniel Radciffe movie parody of people who are too online — as well as The Photograph, a romantic drama starring Lakeith Stanfield And Issa Rae. Netfix, meanwhile, has several new original movies, including All Day and a Night, Get In, The Half of It, and Mrs. Serial Killer.
