Glass Onion is a movie that has brought enormous viewership to Netflix but appeared to miss out on a huge potential box office result by focusing on being a streaming exclusive other than a very limited theatrical run. Just how big a hit the movie is has become even more apparent, with the Rian Johnson-directed Knives Out sequel becoming the third most-streamed movie in a week ever across all available streamers.
Having debuted on Dec. 23 on Netflix, Deadline reported that Glass Onion pulled in 2.2 billion watched minutes within three days to find itself in the top three movies in a one-week measurement, something that could have been even bigger if the film had premiered earlier in the week. Nevertheless, the achievement is another impressive milestone for Glass Onion, which has become one of the biggest Netflix movies ever and puts it just behind Hocus Pocus 2 and Wonder Woman 1984 on Nielsen’s all-time chart.
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With Knives Out 3 already being written and more potential sequels coming down the line, the future for Daniel Craig’s detective Benoit Blanc looks bright. Having more than proven itself as a huge crowd-pleaser, whether Netflix decides to change its release strategy for the third movie is yet to be seen, but for now, it looks like another streaming-focused offering.
Would Glass Onion Have Been A Huge Box Office Hit?
There is no doubt that had Glass Onion been given a full theatrical release; it would have easily challenged many of the biggest movies of 2022 for a spot in at least the Top 10. However, having opened in only a small number of cinemas, Glass Onion made a reported $15 million in its short run, giving it one of the biggest revenue-per-venue figures of the year.
It is hard to gauge exactly how well Glass Onion would have done if put on general release worldwide. Clearly, the Knives Out movies have struck a chord with audiences, which is good news for Netflix and all of those involved in the film. For Rian Johnson, it has delivered the writer-director a potentially never-ending franchise, with each case for Blanc being a completely new story with new characters, a new cast, and new twists to keep audiences on their toes. That is something that both Johnson and Daniel Craig are more than happy to continue being a part of. Craig previously commented:
In response, Johnson added:
“If he keeps writing them, I’ll keep doing them. That’s what makes it easy then, he’s such a wonderful writer that it’s there on the page for me to do.”
Glass Onion and Knives Out are both streaming now on Netflix.
“I’m going to keep making these until Daniel [Craig] blocks me on his phone. Part of the fun of these things is the idea that they’re not sequels, they’re completely new books and they’re completely new stories. To me, the idea for the next one — and I’m going to try to stay in this state of mind as I write it — it’s not about trying to top the previous one, it’s about just trying to create something that surprises us and thus hopefully will surprise the audience and thus delight the audience.”
