Rian Johnson's Glass Onion's Knives Out Reference Flips The First Movie's Killer Story

Glass Onion's Streaming & Theatrical Release Success Explained

Glass Onion Knives Out 2 Poster

The latest update on Glass Onion's viewership on Netflix cement the film as a streaming and theatrical release success. Netflix broke its traditional release model for Rian Johnson's murder mystery and agreed to release it in 600 theaters for one week before Thanksgiving. After the first Knives Out made over $300 million in theaters, Glass Onion's box office reportedly made between $13-15M in its limited opening. While that is far below the original movie, the limited access to the film makes the sequel's performance quite impressive. It even appears that Netflix left tens (if not hundreds) of millions of dollars on the table by not giving Glass Onion a wide theatrical release.

Since the box office performance is unofficial and the potential hypothetical, the Knives Out sequel's viewership is now a sign of how popular it truly is. The sequel pulled in 127 million hours of viewership in its second week, so even a 50 percent drop in week three will mean Glass Onion will fly past 250 million hours viewed within its first 28 days. This could mean Rian Johnson's sequel will Netflix's most expensive movie ever The Gray Man (253.8 million hours viewed) to become Netflix's fourth most popular movie ever.

Glass Onion's Views Are A Good Sign For Knives Out 3

Benoit Blanc Knives out glass onion

Seeing Glass Onion's strong viewership is a good sign for Netflix and Rian Johnson when it comes to Knives Out 3. There was always the potential that the movie franchise did not resonate as strongly with viewers on Netflix in comparison to theaters. However, Glass Onion's success alleviates any concern that audiences are invested in seeing Benoit Blanc solve more murder mysteries. With Rian Johnson already working on Knives Out 3's script, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery's views could mean a quick turnaround on the sequel to capitalize on the momentum.

More: No, Glass Onion's Killer Reveal Isn't Too Simple (It's Genius)

Source: Netflix