Martin Scorsese’s “The Irishman” drew 13.2 million total viewers over its first five days on Netflix, according to Nielsen. That average-minute audience is more than “El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie” (8.2 million) and less than “Bird Box” (16.9 million).
The gangster film, which carries a runtime of 3 hours and 29 minutes, was released on the streaming service on Nov. 27. It opened in theaters on Nov. 1, but Netflix does not generally report box office numbers — or streaming viewership, for that matter.
On its first day, “The Irishman” averaged 2.6 million viewers, the same as “El Camino.” “Bird Box” did 2.9 million average-minute viewers on its first day of availability.
Netflix released “The Irishman” on the night before Thanksgiving. The streaming giant ordinarily drops its stuff just after the clock strikes midnight for Friday morning. Interestingly enough, (Black) Friday, Nov. 29 was the biggest individual day for “The Irishman” viewing.
It’s worth pointing out here that the average movie ticket price in the third quarter of 2019 was $8.93, so Nielsen’s five-day Netflix audience figure would translate into $117.9 million at the box office over five days. That is, you know, if every Netflix subscriber who streamed “The Irishman” at any hour was so motivated to hoof it to the movie theaters during normal business hours and buy a ticket.
In terms of unique viewers, “The Irishman” reached 17.1 million people over its first five days, Nielsen said on Friday.
Netflix only occasionally releases its own viewing statistics. TheWrap reached out to the streaming service for its comparable numbers, which are generally much larger and carry a different methodology, but we did not immediately hear back.
“The Irishman” stars Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Joe Pesci, Harvey Keitel, Ray Romano, Bobby Cannavale and Anna Paquin, among others. Based on a book by Charles Brandt, “The Irishman” follows a mob hitman who recalls his possible involvement with the slaying of Jimmy Hoffa (Pacino).