Netflix's Don't Look Up Breaks Viewership Records

Netflix's end-of-the-world comedy Don't Look Up has set a new viewership record at the streaming company. The movie reached 152.29 million hours watched worldwide during the week of December 27-January 2 to set a new record for the most hours watched for any Netflix content in a single week.

Netflix confirmed the numbers and the record status to Deadline. The movie got off to a fast start on Netflix, reaching 111 million hours viewed right out of the gate.

Don't Look Up has become the third most-watched Netflix original movie of all time, only trailing Bird Box and Red Notice. Deadline estimated that Don't Look Up could overtake both films to set the all-time record at Netflix for most views over its first 28 days.

Posting on Twitter, writer-director Adam McKay said he was "straight up flabbergasted" by the viewership figures for Don't Look Up.

Don't Look Up features Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence playing scientists who discover a meteor is coming to destroy Earth and they desperately try to convince people, including the president (Meryl Streep) to take the matter seriously. It's a satire of American culture today. The film also stars Cate Blanchett, Jonah Hill, Mark Rylance, Tyler Perry, Ron Perlman, Timothee Chalamet, Ariana Grande, and other big names.

McKay previously won an Oscar for The Big Short. Some of his other movies have included the Will Ferrell comedies Anchorman and The Other Guys, among others.