Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman, which is currently streaming on Netflix, might be unprecedented in its long duration but don’t let that keep you from experiencing it. Especially now considering so many others have managed to sit through the three and a half hour film.
On 10 December, Netflix took to social media to reveal some figures about how The Irishman has been performing on its platform. The Irishman dropped on Netflix on 27 November. Now, according to the streaming giant, a total of 2,64,04,081 people have watched the film in just one week of its release. This statistic includes Netflix accounts globally.
While announcing the figures, Netflix made a unique The Irishman reference.
It tweeted, “ *pours glass of wine* *dips bread* My friends, I’ve got some news from the big guy at the top: THE IRISHMAN was watched by 26,404,081 accounts globally — within its first 7 days on Netflix.”
However, one can’t ignore the long duration of the film. It is possible that a Netflix account may have started watching the film but given up halfway. Netflix clarified this too, in a reply to its original tweet. It said that they considered any account that may have watched at least 70% of the film.
It tweeted, “We count a viewer as anyone who completes 70% of a film.”
Starring Scorsese’s muse Robert De Niro, the film is based on the book I Heard You Paint Houses by Charles Brand, and looks at the life of Frank Sheeran, a World War II veteran who became a mob hitman and allegedly played a role in the disappearance of labour union leader Jimmy Hoffa in 1975. The cast also features Al Pacino, Joe Pesci and Ray Romano.
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