‘The Monkey King’ Was Viewed More Times Than Any Other Film On Netflix Last Week
Anthony Stacchi’s The Monkey King was Netflix’s most-viewed film last week, its first full week on the platform.
The Monkey King, a family-targeting animated adaptation of one of China’s most popular fantasy tales, was watched for 23.2 million hours and racked up 14.4 million views across the week of August 21-27. That made it the most-viewed film on the platform, although the Gal Gadot-led Heart of Stone was watched for more hours. That said, Heart of Stone is a half-hour longer than The Monkey King.
Last week, The Monkey King debuted in second place, despite only being available for three of the seven tracked days.
Consecutive top 10 appearances for The Monkey King continues a string of successes for Netflix original animation. All of the platform’s original features put out this year have hit the top 10 – The Magician’s Elephant, Nimona, Miraculous: Ladybug & Cat Noir, The Movie – and with audience-friendly fare like Leo and Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget next on the release schedule, that hot streak seems likely to continue.
The Monkey King is the story of the charismatic Monkey and his magical sentient fighting stick who try to score victories over 100 demons, an eccentric Dragon King, and Monkey’s own over-inflated ego. Along the way, a young village girl challenges Monkey’s narcissistic attitudes and proves that even the smallest pebble can have a big effect on the world. The film is executive produced by Chinese actor/filmmaker Stephen Chow, who helmed the incredible 2013 live-action adaptation of the same narrative, Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons, as well as other classics such as Kung Fu Hustle and Shaolin Soccer.
Two other animated films finished in Netflix’s English-language top 10 for the week of August 21-27, The Boss Baby in fifth – its tenth time on the list – and debutant Madagascar, which finished in ninth place.
After its first full week on Netflix, season two of My Dad the Bounty Hunter made the English-language tv list in tenth place. Season eight of Gabby’s Dollhouse continues to be a hit for the streamer, finishing in the top ten for its third week since debuting on August 7.
