The film that Bradley Cooper is seeking to win the Oscar with has been one of the least-viewed prestige projects on Netflix.
Although Rebel Moon: Part 1 – Child of Fire divided critics, the film still managed to become the most-watched film on Netflix in the week of its release, with approximately 23.9 million full views. It still occupies first place in the top 10 this January 2. Launched the same week as Rebel Moon, another highly anticipated film did not meet its audience at all… It is Maestro.
We know that Netflix evaluates its successes based on its top 10. This proves decisive in the second week of operation because it then includes a full week of viewing. All eyes are on the film’s performance in this period. However, it turns out that Maestro – Bradley Cooper’s second feature film as director – only appears in very few top 10s around the world.
Netflix lists only six countries: Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Israel, Portugal and Serbia. The United States is absent, as are other English-speaking countries. In France, same punishment: no top 10. A big disappointment for a film which showed its ambitions very early on.
However, we can’t consider this Leonard Bernstein biopic a failure until we know what ultimate impact it will have on awards season. It is certainly more difficult to sell to the general public than Rebel Moon or The World After Us, big successes for the platform at the end of 2023, but everything is not over.
It still seems that prestigious projects are relegated to a simple presence in award ceremonies, which seems to be a very expensive strategy, because if they are not seen in theaters or in streaming… spend 80 million without good viewing figures makes it seem like pure prize chasing that doesn’t translate into real profit.
Nevertheless, the fact remains that Maestro is currently tipped by the American and international press to appear on the list of films nominated for the Oscars. In what category? It’s still too early to tell, but we can at least bet on “Best Film”, “Best Director”, “Best Actor”, “Best Actress” and “Best Makeup and Hairstyles”.
It appears that 2023 hasn’t been a very successful year for the biggest and most expensive Netflix original films, as only two titles – The Mother starring Jennifer Lopez and Tyler Rake 2 – fared well by taking place in the list of ten most watched films of all time.