March 7, 2025, 3:09 pm | Read time: 7 minutes
After years of keeping its streaming figures under wraps, Netflix now provides a detailed insight twice a year. The overview in the second half of the year is particularly exciting because it shows which films and series were actually the most successful. TECHBOOK took a close look at the data.
Bridgerton, Squid Game, Avatar, Baby Reindeer, The Gentlemen, 3 Body Problem, Black Doves — the 2024 series year at Netflix had a lot to offer. The situation is no different for films. Titles such as The Union and The Snow Society dominated the charts, sometimes for weeks on end. But which movie and which series were the most successful on Netflix in 2024? TECHBOOK has analyzed the data — the winners might surprise some of you.
Netflix Reveals Streaming Figures for 2024
Netflix is the almost undisputed market leader among streaming services. The provider owes this primarily to its in-house productions, which can be seen exclusively on the platform. Netflix also purchases well-known licensed titles. However, the majority of content on the platform runs under the “Originals” tag.
This also becomes clear when you take a look at the latest What We Watched report. The provider now publishes this twice a year and provides precise insight into how much content has been streamed on the platform. The latest figures also finally reveal which films and series were really the most successful on Netflix in 2024.
Netflix differentiates between hours streamed and views. The latter then determines the final ranking. This makes sense insofar as films and series sometimes have very different running times. It would, therefore, be unfair to compare a 90-minute movie with a 3-hour epic. But which films and series performed particularly well with Netflix users in 2024?
Some Surprise Successes on Netflix
The top 10 opens with the continuation of a cult series: Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F. The action comedy with Eddie Murphy reached 97.1 million views — a remarkable figure. But perhaps Netflix was expecting more with this big name. Especially as directly ahead of it in 9th place is a film that many probably wouldn’t have expected to be in the top 10: Mother of the Bride (98 million). The audience magnet in this romantic comedy about a mother who meets her ex again at her daughter’s wedding was, in all likelihood, leading actress Brooke Shields.
A Family Affair also offers star power in 8th place, with Nicole Kidman, Zac Efron, and Joey King in a more or less involuntary relationship triangle. After all, Efron plays King’s egocentric boss, who is also dating her mother — a constellation that generated 101 million views. In contrast, Society of Snow achieved 112.6 million. The film about a real plane crash started right at the beginning of the year and broke several Netflix records. A surprise hit from France, Under Paris, was even higher with 114.8 million views. The film mainly attracted attention in the context of the Summer Olympics. After all, it is about a shark that disrupts the triathlon competitions in the Seine.
In fifth place is Rebel Ridge with 129 million views. Aaron Pierre, Don Johnson, and AnnaSophia Robb play the leading roles in the action thriller. In fourth place with 131.1 million views is The Union, an action comedy with Halle Berry and Mark Wahlberg also starring.
Action and Star Power Guarantee Success
The top 3 is opened by another action film: Carry-on. The film, starring Taron Egerton, Jason Bateman, and Sofia Carson, was an absolute surprise success during the Christmas season. Due to the late start date in December, the title achieved “only” 137.3 million views. If you look at the English-language all-time top 10, however, a few million more have been added in the meantime, meaning that Carry-on is also in third place in the overall ranking, making it the most successful Netflix film of 2024 in retrospect.
In terms of pure streaming figures for the year, however, there are two films ahead of it. The first is Lift with 158.8 million views. The name says it all in the heist action comedy starring Kevin Hart. A group of criminals recruited by Interpol is tasked with stealing gold from an elevator 32,808 feet above the ground. On the other hand, there is the number one successful Netflix film of 2024: Damsel. In the fantasy film, Millie Bobby Brown plays a princess who is to be sacrificed to a dragon due to an ancient pact but does not accept her fate.
If you add up the figures from both published tables, Damsel has an impressive 174.1 million views. Although this differs from the figures published on Netflix for the general top 10 — where it is “only” 138 million — either way, the film is a complete success for the provider and also makes it to 8th place in the major ranking of English-language films.
2024 Another Good Year for Thrillers and Crime Thrillers
However, the streaming service’s true flagship is its series. Netflix’s top 10 for 2024 opens with American Nightmare (62.8 million) and thus a true crime format. In 9th place is Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story (69.7 million), a similar series that caused quite a stir. Things are also dark in The Perfect Couple. A murder takes place on a dreamy island during a wedding; the cast includes Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, and Dakota Fanning.
The mini-series Griselda with Sofía Vergara, who plays a Colombian drug baroness, was also dark — a combination that achieved 75.1 million views. 6th place, on the other hand, goes in a completely different direction: Avatar: The Last Airbender (80.9 million). This is the live-action adaptation of the successful animated series from the early 2000s. A second season of the lavishly staged fantasy series has already been confirmed.
Squid Game season 2 is in fifth place, and it is remarkable that the South Korean series appears in the top 5 at all; after all, it only started on December 26. The season has since ascended to second place among non-English-language series, just behind its first season. In fourth place, on the other hand, is The Gentleman (90.3 million), a serialized remake of the 2019 film of the same name starring Theo James.
The Most Successful Netflix Series in 2024
The top 3 most successful Netflix series of 2024 is led by Baby Reindeer. The mini-series caused quite a stir, partly because the lead actor and series creator Richard Gadd shared personal experiences of stalking and sexual abuse. The series won, among other accolades, three Emmy Awards.
In second place with 113.6 million views is Bridgerton season 3. The romantic history series is one of Netflix’s major flagships, which is why the streaming service released the new season in two parts. Therefore, it is not entirely clear how adjusted the viewing figures actually are, but this should not detract from the series’ overall success. A fourth season is already in the works.
Despite the trick of splitting up the releases, another series is enthroned in first place. With 121.3 million views, Fool Me Once stands as another dark production. In the Harlan Coben adaptation, a widow discovers via the nanny cam that her husband, who was thought to be dead, is alive and well. Michelle Keegan and Richard Armitage, among others, can be seen in the leading roles.
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Films and Series Outside the Netflix Top 10 2024
Four of the films released in 2024 made it into the list of the most successful Netflix films overall — two in each category — which speaks for a thoroughly successful year. However, titles such as Rebel Moon — Part 2, with 55.8 million views, and Atlas, with 96.4 million views, are likely to have disappointed the streaming service. The latter still landed in 11th place for the year. However, with a budget of 100 million US dollars, these figures fell short of expectations. The situation is similar for the series 3 Body Problem (60.1 million views and 11th place) — but it was still enough for a renewal on Netflix.
However, The Irish Wish should also be recognized at this point. The romantic comedy starring Lindsay Lohan came in just behind Atlas in 12th place among films (92.8 million). In the series category, Emily in Paris season 4 (57.8 million) and Nobody Wants This (56.8 million) were other romantic comedies in good 12th and 13th place.