Two new biopics about 20th-century Black icons entered the home viewing charts this week: “Bob Marley: One Love” (Paramount), the film about the legendary reggae artist nearing $100 million in theaters, and “Shirley” (Netflix), about the first Black Congresswoman and one-time presidential candidate, led newcomers in a week that mostly repeated top titles.
“One Love” is #1 at Fandango, which ranks by revenue. The VOD platform won’t be able to provide its whole top 10 until Monday, but the company confirms that placement. Somewhat surprisingly, “One Love” is #3 at iTunes, behind “Anyone but You” (Sony) and “The Beekeeper” (Lionsgate), now both at $5.99 to rent after earlier strong PVOD performances at $19.99.
Both Fandango and Google Play chart by transactions. But normally a film with the success in theaters that “Bob Marley” had would debut at #1. It’s unclear, with data beyond relative rankings absent, whether this might be just because the reduced price rentals for the other two films are so strong. Meanwhile, there’s no report from Google Play this week, as their daily chart hasn’t changed in a week, and “Bob Marley: One Love” is not even listed as available.
“Shirley,” starring Regina King and directed and written by John Ridley (who won an Oscar for writing “12 Years a Slave”), debuted on Netflix at #3 and is currently in fourth place at the streamer. After its first weekend, it already has outperformed “Maestro,” the streamer’s top awards contender last year. Bradley Cooper’s acclaimed film about Leonard Bernstein never got higher than #4 and dropped off the top 10 after four days. “Shirley” has gotten similar reviews to “Maestro” (their Metacritic scores are nearly identical) but didn’t have the significant theatrical push (“Maestro” grosses remain unreported but were possibly as much as $5 million in limited release). “Shirley” also came out way ahead of the usual fall film festival awards season, in which Netflix usually positions its high-end prestige originals.
Two other Netflix originals, “Irish Wish” and “Damsel,” were first and second all of last week (“Wish” with Lindsay Lohan is now #3, “Damsel #5). Heading up the chart are two little-seen recent titles that got mostly VOD play and are not Netflix originals. “Mending the Line,” with Brian Cox as a Vietnam vet who takes in a younger Marine recovering from his traumas through fishing, is #1. At #2, “On the Line” stars Mel Gibson as a talk show host dealing with a caller who threatens to kill his family.
Once again, this week, we are providing the top 10 streaming list compiled by Reelgood, a gateway app that monitors home usage. As we mentioned last week, any given site may have unique demographics, but there is so little immediate data (Nielsen’s more authoritative list has a one-month delay) that Reelgood merited inclusion.
This week again shows “Poor Things,” on Hulu, in the lead. But curiously, Reelgood doesn’t have “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour,” now on Disney+, listed, nor “Irish Wish” from Netflix. The streaming aggregator does have “Damsel,” behind “Irish Wish” on Netflix’s own U.S. chart, at #5. The discrepancies might be related to time delays — or possibly specific older-skewing demographics among Reelgood users.
VOD Top 10s
iTunes and Google Play rank films daily by number of transactions, while Fandango lists by revenue. The listings below are for Monday, March 25. This week, only revenue for iTunes is listed. Vudu delayed release of its list until Wednesday while confirming “Bob Marley: One Love” is #1. Google Play’s top 10 has not been updated in a week to reflect normal changes including the release of new titles.
The distributors listed are current rights owners. Prices for all titles are for lowest for either rental or download.
iTunes
1.Anyone but You (Sony) – $5.99
2. The Beekeeper (Lionsgate) – $5.99
3. Bob Marley: One Love (Paramount) – $19.99
4. The Iron Claw (A24) – $4.99
5.Oppenheimer (Universal) – $5.99
6. The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (Lionsgate) – $5.99
7. Land of Bad (The Avenue) – $19.99
8. Argylle (Universal) – $19.99
9. American Fiction (MGM Amazon) – $5.99
10. The Zone of Interest (A24) – $4.99
Reelgood
Reelgood is a free gateway app for film and TV that provides a weekly listing of most-watched movies on subscription-based streamers. We list the streamer hosting the film after each title. This list covers March 14-20.
1. Poor Things (Hulu)
3. American Fiction (Fubo)
2. Oppenheimer (Peacock)
4. Dune (Max)
6. The Holdovers (Peacock)
7. Argylle (Apple TV+)
8. Wonka (Max)
9. Killers of the Flower Moon (Apple TV+)
10. Ricky Stanicky (Amazon Prime)
Netflix Movies
These are the most-viewed, current rankings on Netflix’s domestic daily chart on Monday, March 25. Originals include both Netflix-produced and acquired titles it initially presents in the U.S. Netflix publishes its own worldwide weekly top 10 on Tuesdays based on time viewed.
1. Mending the Line (2022 theatrical release)
2. On the Line (2022 VOD release)
3. Irish Wish (Netflix original)
4. Shirley (Netflix original)
5. Damsel (Netflix original)
6.The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023 theatrical release)
7. The Casagrandes Movie (Netflix animated original)
8. There’s Something in the Barn (2022 VOD release)
9. Tyson’s Run (2022 theatrical release)
10. The Boss Baby (2017 theatrical release)
