The Spanish audiovisual industry is once again showing strength by dominating Netflix's global viewership list. According to the data provided by the platform itself, published every Tuesday, The Snow Society by JA Bayona and Berlin, a prequel to La casa de papel, are at the top of the ranking of the most watched films in the world. .
Although “The Snow Society” was already added to the catalog on Thursday, January 4th, it is the most watched film worldwide in the first week of 2024, from January 1st to 7th. It ranks number one in the non-English language feature category, but its numbers are higher than any other title on the English language list: 55.8 million hours watched and 22.9 million views. The vigilante's final chapter (The Equalizer 3) reached 26.8 million hours watched and 22.8 million views in the same week.
Bayona's production, which follows the survivors of the plane crash in the Andes in 1972, is not only a hit with audiences, but also one of the platform's bets that will guarantee its presence in the awards season. After receiving good reviews following its screening at the Venice Film Festival in September this year, it is nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film and is one of the favorites for the same nomination at the Oscars. The film has made it for now and is one of the 15 finalists in the “Best International Film” category. On Tuesday, January 23rd, it will be announced whether she manages to remain among the five final candidates. It joins some of the most famous titles of the year: The Zone of Interest by Jonathan Glazer, the Finnish Fallen Leaves by Aki Kaurismäki, the French A Slow Fire; the Italian I, captain; the Icelandic Godland; the Danish The Promised Land; the Mexican Totem by Lila Avilés, the German teacher's room; the Ukrainian documentary “20 Days in Mariupol and the Japanese Perfect Days” by the German Wim Wenders. It also leads the Goya nominations with a possible 13 awards, along with Estibaliz Urresola's debut film “20,000 Species of Bees” with 15.
Before “The Snow Society” appeared in the streaming sector, it premiered in Spanish cinemas in mid-December 2023. It's not possible to know for sure how many people saw it because Netflix vetoed its box office returns. Bayona has already been responsible for several international projects, such as the opening chapters of the series “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” on Prime Video and “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom” with more than 1.3 billion dollars (1.187 million euros ). Collection worldwide.
Trailer for the “Berlin” series.
Berlin, the other big Spanish success on Netflix, is a spin-off of one of the platform's great historical milestones. In the vein of “La casa de papel”, but with a deliberately closer tone to the romantic comedy, the prequel focuses on the controversial (and very popular with audiences) character of Pedro Alonso. Last week it was already at the top of the list of the most watched series in the world. It adopted the titles in both English and other languages. With its eight chapters released suddenly, it surpassed 11 million views and 77 million hours played in its first few days. Ricky Gervais: Armageddon, the first English-classified title, was far behind Vancouver Media's production with eight million views. This week Berlin remains the second most watched series on Netflix. The Spanish series has doubled the data from the week of its premiere, reaching 22 million views and more than 146 million hours watched, surpassed only by the British Deceptions recently released on the platform in terms of series from around the world.
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