Netflix Movie Breaks Into Top 10 Just a Day Following Its Release

The newest Netflix original film had no trouble breaking into the Top 10 movies list just one day after it was released, knocking out another recently-released heavy-hitter in the process. Day Shift premiered on the streamer on Friday, Aug. 12 and jumped to the number one spot. However, less than a week later Look Both Ways came along to steal the lead.

Day Shift is an action-comedy starring Jamie Foxx as Bud Jablonski, a vampire hunter living and working in Los Angeles, California. It did not get much more or less promotion than any other Netflix original film, but the company's internal metrics show it was a huge success in its first weekend out. It held the number 1 spot on the Top 10 Movies list in the U.S. after its release, and it seemed likely to stay there between its A-list cast and popcorn premise. However, Look Both Ways premiered on Thursday and quickly overtook it.

Look Both Ways stars Lili Reinhart of Riverdale fame. It is a romantic comedy about a college senior named Natalie facing a fork in the road of life with two distinctly different outcomes. It starts with Natalie taking a pregnancy test and then vividly traces two different paths her life could take -- one where she is pregnant and one where she is not. Neither is without its hardships or its rewards.

Meanwhile, Day Shift brings fans into a complex, bizarre fantasy world where an entire industry depends on the capture and sale of vampire fangs. Foxx's character Bud struggles to navigate this black market economy and get ahead of his own money troubles. He needs to work with the "vampire hunting union" and take on jobs that have huge implications for the world beyond his own personal wealth.

Day Shift also stars Dave Franco, Snoop Dogg, Natash Liu Bordizzo, Meagan Good, Karla Souza, Steve Howey, Scott Adkins, Oliver Masucci, Eric Lange, Peter Stormare and Zion Broadnax. It was written by Tyler Tice and directed by J.J. Perry -- a renowned stuntman and martial artist who has never directed a feature film before.

In spite of their success in terms of viewership and other metrics that Netflix values, both movies have been critical flops. On Rotten Tomatoes, Day Shift has 56 percent positive reviews while Look Both Ways has 58 percent positive reviews. Critics like CNN's Brian Lowry even went so far as to call out the quality of these films as a symptom of Netflix's impact on the film industry. Both movies are available to stream now.