‘The Mitchells Vs. The Machines’ Is Netflix’s Biggest Animated Film To Date

The Mitchells vs. The Machines is Netflix’s most-viewed animation release to date, the streamer revealed in its quarterly earnings report on Tuesday afternoon.

The Sony Pictures Animation-produced film was viewed by 53 million households in its first 28 days of release. We had previously observed the film’s strong performance, noting that it ranked as Netflix’s top film in the U.S. for nine consecutive days.

Sony had originally intended to release the film theatrically last fall, but was unable to do so because of the pandemic. Subsequently, Netflix announced in January that it had licensed the film for streaming.

While Mitchells has topped Netflix’s all-time animation viewership, it was not the streamer’s most popular film last quarter. The most-viewed films on the platform were Army of the Dead (75M member households) and Fatherhood (74M).

In addition to licensing animated features, Netflix also has its own in-house feature animation group. This division, Netflix Animation, has released five features to date, most recently, Arlo the Alligator Boy and America: The Motion Picture. By next year, the company’s in-house division plans to release up to six features per year.

For more about The Mitchells vs. The Machines, watch the following interview with director Michael Rianda, courtesy of our key event partner INBTWN Animation Fest: