Glass Onion: Knives Out sequel fails to crack Netflix top five – falling behind some surprising titles

Films of lesser quality – according to Rotten Tomatoes – have triumphed over Rian Johnson’s sequel starring Daniel Craig

Despite all the buzz surrounding Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, the film has failed to break into Netflix’s illustrious film club.

Rian Johnson’s sequel to his 2019 murder mystery film has proven to be a hit among audiences, with the film receiving mostly favourable reviews.

Glass Onion was released on Netflix on 23 December. It streamed 82.1 million hours in the first three days, the streaming service announced on Tuesday (27 December).

This figure makes Glass Onion the streaming giant’s sixth biggest film debut, narrowly missing out on a top five position.

The film follows behind Sandra Bullock’s 2021 film The Unforgivable (85.86 million hours) and The Gray Man – starring Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans – which streamed 88.55 million hours when it was released in July this year.

The Unforgivable and The Gray Man stand at Netflix’s number five and number four debuts, respectively.

When it comes to reviews, however, both films pale in comparison to Glass Onion, receiving an approval score of 38 per cent and 46 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes, respectively.

Currently, Glass Onion has an enviable score of 93 per cent. It should be noted, however, that the film is still in its first week of release.

Chris Evans in ‘The Gray Man’ (© 2022 Netflix, Inc.)

The streamer began releasing these figures in 2021, meaning that movies released prior to this are not included in the rankings.

At number three is the Ryan Reynolds and Gal Gadot film Red Notice (148.72 million hours), Don’t Look Up (111.03 million hours) and The Adam Project (92.43 million hours).

Prior to its 23 December release on Netflix, Glass Onion had a limited one-week theatrical run on 23 November.  It is the first Netflix title to receive a theatrical release from all three major US chains (AMC Theatres, Cinemark Theatres, and Regal Cinemas).

Ryan Reynolds and Dwayne Johnson in ‘Red Notice’ (Frank Masi/Netflix)

The streaming giant did not report grosses. Distribution sources, however, told The Hollywood Reporter that it brought in approximately $13m (£10.8m) over the five-day Thanksgiving holiday.

The first Knives Out film was released theatrically by Lionsgate in 2019. It became a sleeper hit and grossed $41.4m (£34.4m) over the same five-day Thanksgiving period.

Glass Onion stars Daniel Craig reprising his role as ace detective Benoit Blanc, who seeks to uncover the identity of a killer at an exclusive gathering taking place at a tech billionaire’s (Edward Norton) private island.

The cast includes Kate Hudson, Madelyn Cline, Kathryn Hahn, Janelle Monae, as well as Ethan Hawke who appears in an almost undetectable cameo. You can find a full list of the celebrity cameos here.

Ben Shapiro has been ridiculed for his tweets about Glass Onion, which left fans in hysterics.