Don’t Look Up tops Netflix Top 10 despite mixed reviews

Last Updated on December 31, 2021

Did you watch Don’t Look Up when it hit Netflix over the holiday weekend? If you did, you certainly weren’t alone, with Netflix revealing via their website, Netflix Top 10, that the film was in the top 10 charts in 94 countries. That’s enough for it to top the streamer’s top 10 list globally, with an estimated 111,030,000 hours watched. By comparison, Sandra Bullock’s The Unforgivable, which just entered Netflix’s all-time top 10, only started its run at 85,860,000 hours viewed, meaning that, inevitably, Don’t Look Up will also shortly join their list of most-watched movies of all time.

In theory, this shouldn’t be a surprise given all of the star power. After all, the movie stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, Timothee Chalamet, Meryl Streep, Cate Blanchett and more. However, reviews for the film, both from critics and audiences, have been decidedly mixed. It’s only eked out a 55% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, while the audience score is a mediocre 77%. However, more have sprung to the film’s defence in recent days, making this a much more decisive film than anticipated.

Director Adam McKay had the following to say via Twitter:

Loving all the heated debate about our movie. But if you don’t have at least a small ember of anxiety about the climate collapsing (or the US teetering) I’m not sure Don’t Look Up makes any sense. It’s like a robot viewing a love story. “WHy ArE thEir FacEs so cLoSe ToGether?”

— Adam McKay (@GhostPanther) December 29, 2021

Whatever the case may be, Netflix shelled out a pretty penny for this one, with DiCaprio receiving a reported $25 million to star, while Jennifer Lawrence received $20 million. One can only imagine what Streep, Blanchett and the others got, making the rumoured $75 million budget seem a little suspicious (is that before or after salaries?).

While I didn’t care for the movie, I definitely respect some of the passionate defences coming from fans and critics. However, I’m curious to know what you folks, who read JoBlo, think, so let us know what you thought of this divisive movie below.

Meanwhile, director Adam McKay is set to reteam with star Jennifer Lawrence over at Apple for his long-planned movie, Bad Blood, about Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes.