Bird Box on Netflix: DOUBTS arise over 45 MILLION viewing figure for Sandra Bullock horror

Just after Christmas the streaming giant announced that their Netflix Original horror movie Bird Box had broken a record. Netflix tweeted: “Took off my blindfold this morning to discover that 45,037,125 Netflix accounts have already watched Bird Box. Best first seven days ever for a Netflix film!” However, according to CNN Business, this huge audience figure should be taken with a grain of salt.

The outlet writes: “It’s an impressive figure, certainly, but one that also requires a Star Wars scroll-worth of disclaimers, qualifiers and questions –several of them immediately posed by journalists and TV industry rivals, who have been frustrated by the streaming giant’s unwillingness to divulge such information.”

Meanwhile, The Hollywood Reporter’s Rebecca Keegan asked on Twitter: “Does [Bird Box director] Susanne Bier’s agent use this data as leverage on her next film? How does a traditional studio considering her for a project view it?”

CNN Business points out that it’s hard to equate 45 million Netflix accounts to traditional box office terms.

After all, for all we know, the figure could potentially include accounts that accidentally play the film on auto-play or those who played Bird Box for just a few seconds.

Then there’s the issue of transparency, according to CBS Entertainment president Kelly Kahl, who pointed out that the numbers are “independently verified by…uh, Netflix.”

The Daily Wire also claims that the 45 million viewing figure isn’t in the same league as Aquaman making $750 million worldwide at the cinema over the same Christmas holiday.

The official plot synopsis for Bird Box reads: “When a mysterious force decimates the population, only one thing is certain — if you see it, you die.

It continued: “The survivors must now avoid coming face to face with an entity that takes the form of their worst fears.

“Searching for hope and a new beginning, a woman and her children embark on a dangerous journey through the woods and down a river to find the one place that may offer sanctuary.

“To make it, they’ll have to cover their eyes from the evil that chases them — and complete the trip blindfolded.”