Netflix’s No. 1 Show Hits Huge Viewership Milestone

Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story is continuing to do wonders on Netflix. The Ryan Murphy series centered on the Menendez brothers, who killed their parents in 1989, has been the number one show on the streamer, and it’s now hit a massive viewership milestone. According to TheWrap, the show passed over two billion viewing minutes just in the second week. While the series has stirred up controversy, with Erik Menendez slamming it for being full of “blatant lies,” the world is still tuning in.

During the week of Sept. 23-29, Monsters brought in 2.396 billion viewing minutes, becoming the first streaming title to have two billion viewing minutes since Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F in July. The series added 700 million minutes from the first week, following its premiere on Sept. 19, and is continuing to bring in viewers. Cooper Koch and Nicholas Alexander Chavez star as the brothers, who were convicted in 1996. Javier Bardem, Chloë Sevigny, Ari Graynor, and Nathan Lane also starred.

As Monsters is staying steady on the charts, the Menendez brothers’ molestation claims were being investigated, as they long alleged abuse at the hands of their parents, José and Kitty Menendez, claiming self-defense as their reason for the murders. Kim Kardashian even shared a personal essay explaining that the brothers should be freed from prison. As of yesterday, the brothers are awaiting a decision on a possible resentencing.

Following Monsters, Ryan Murphy is working on the overall third season of the anthology series. After Jeffrey Dahmer and the Menendez brothers, Season 3, titled The Original Monster, will focus on killer Ed Gein, played by Charlie Hunnam. Laurie Metcalf, Tom Hollander, and Olivia Williams are also set to star in the upcoming third season, which will explore Gein’s life as the first “celebrity serial killer” and examine how true crime evolved into a pop culture phenomenon.

Despite the controversy surrounding the Monster series, as the first season, focusing on Dahmer, also caused quite the stir, it doesn’t seem like Murphy will be stepping away from it any time soon. It should be interesting to see how Season 3 does and how it compares to the first two seasons, but for now, Monsters is holding down the fort and becoming another hit for Netflix. Both seasons of Monster are streaming now on Netflix.