‘Extraction’ Set to Become Netflix’s Biggest Movie Premiere Ever, Chris Hemsworth Claims

Since movie theaters across the country are still closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, streaming content has taken the spotlight, including Chris Hemworth’s new action movie Extraction. Hemsworth celebrated the film’s early success, with Netflix claiming about 90 million households have checked out at least part of the movie. The movie was produced by Joe and Anthony Russo, the brothers who directed Avengers: Endgame, and directed by stunt coordinator Sam Hargrave.

On Saturday, Hemsworth shared a note from Netflix, adding, “We are absolutely blown away by the response this film has been getting! If you haven’t seen it yet, get on to [Netflix] and check it out!” According to the streaming giant, Extraction “is well on its way to becoming the biggest-ever film premiere on Netflix — with an estimated 90 million households getting in on the action in the first 4 weeks.”

Hemsworth, who plays Thor in the Marvel movies, also sent another message directly to fans to celebrate the news. “Hey, what’s up guys, I hope you’re doing well. I just want to say a massive thank you to everyone who checked out Extraction, you’ve made it the number one film on the planet right now, and it looks like it’s going to be Netflix’s biggest feature film of all time, which is absolutely mind blowing,” he said.

Netflix typically only releases viewership data when it has good news. The streaming giant counts a “viewing” as someone who watched just two minutes of a movie or a TV episode, notes Forbes. If Extraction really did draw 90 million viewers since it was released on April 24, that would put it ahead of 6 Underground, which had 83 million views and Bird Box, which had 80 million.

Extraction is based in the graphic novel Ciudad and written by Joe Russo. The film features Hemsworth as a former Australian Special Air Service Regiment soldier-turned-mercenary who is recruited to save the son of an Indian drug lord. Extraction earned better reviews than many other direct-to-Netflix movies and holds a 67 percent fresh rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes.

During the coronavirus pandemic, Netflix has seen viewership skyrocket. Spenser Confidential, which stars Mark Wahlberg and was released on March 6, picked up 85 million views through April 21, while the documentary series Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness was watched by 64 million Netflix households after its March 20 debut, Netflix said during its first-quarter earnings report. The reality dating series Love Is Blind was sampled by about 30 million households.

“We’re acutely aware that we are fortunate to have a service that is even more meaningful to people confined at home, and which we can operate remotely with minimal disruption in the short to medium term,” Netflix said in a statement last month, reports Variety. “Like other home entertainment services, we’re seeing temporarily higher viewing and increased membership growth. In our case, this is offset by a sharply stronger U.S. dollar, depressing our international revenue, resulting in revenue-as-forecast. We expect viewing to decline and membership growth to decelerate as home confinement ends, which we hope is soon.”