MOVIE NEWS – After a limited theatrical release, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery debuted on Netflix streaming during the holidays.

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery mainly received excellent reviews – although we weren’t impressed. It made a very solid box office despite a limited theatrical release. After its debut on Netflix on 23 December, the film had 82.1 million views in its first three days. This equated to an estimated 35 million subscribers and was enough to put the Daniel Craig-led sequel at the top of Netflix’s list. On a larger scale, however, this moved the film to 6th place in the list of best-performing film releases.

The timing of Glass Onions’ release may have both helped and hindered the film’s initial impact, as it arrived as a Christmas premiere when many potential viewers were at home and could have tuned in but may have opted for a more festive or family-friendly film instead.

In the coming weeks, Glass Onion will likely fulfil its potential. Especially with all the positive reviews.

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery impressed at the box office in November, grossing an estimated $15 million in its first week. These numbers are not confirmed. Thanks to Netflix not releasing official figures for limited theatrical releases. Because Rian Johnson is already planning the third instalment in the series, and Netflix has invested more than $450 million for the rights to two sequels. Much depends on how the film performs in the coming weeks. This could impact where the franchise goes after the next movie.

Rian Johnson was annoyed by the title of Glass Onion?!

While many franchises like to link the titles of their films together, Rian Johnson really didn’t want Glass Onion to be called A Knives Out Mystery. He himself has previously commented on this:

“I’ve tried hard to make them self-contained. Honestly, I’m p*ssed off that we have A Knives Out Mystery in the title. You know? I want it to just be called Glass Onion. I get it, and I want everyone who liked the first movie to know this is next in the series, but also, the whole appeal to me is it’s a new novel off the shelf every time. But there’s a gravity of a thousand suns toward serialized storytelling.”

Johnson also said that his intention has always been to have unique cases that viewers don’t need to have any prior knowledge to enjoy.

The existence of a subtitle did not hinder the film’s performance. From a marketing perspective, it is understandable why Netflix wanted to expand the title. After all, they have bought into the franchise and want it to be seen immediately. Whether Johnson will drop the name in future episodes remains to be seen. After Glass Onion, there will be many fans excitedly awaiting the sequels.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter