Netflix's Top 10 Most Popular Series and Films (2021)

Netflix is one of the most popular media streaming platforms and despite this, it has always been reluctant to share how much its audience likes the content it offers or not. In general, Netflix rarely shares stats and numbers about its business.

Ted Sarandos, Netflix’s co-CEO and chief content officer, revealed what he said was the “most comprehensive look so far” at the streamer’s top 10 most popular TV series and films on Netflix, he shared a couple of interesting slides showing which were the most popular TV series and movies on Netflix.

The first slide, which you see below, shows the first 28 days of release (and streamed for at least 2 minutes) and the second slide showed total time spent viewing by hours within the initial 28-day window — engagement data Netflix has not released previously.

Netflix Top 10 Series - 2021

Netflix most popular series and films 2021

These are the Top 10 Netflix Series (2021) in which the number of accounts that have watched at least two minutes of that title in the first 28 days on Netflix;

1. Bridgerton (Season 1) - 82 million accounts
2. Lupine: Part 1 - 76 million accounts
3. The Witcher (Season 1) - 76 million accounts
4. Sex / Life (Season 1) - 67 million accounts
5. Stranger Things 3 - 67 million accounts
6. La Casa di Carta 4 - 65 million accounts
7. Tiger King (Season 1) - 64 million accounts
8. The Queen of Chess - 62 million accounts
9. Sweet Tooth (Season 1) - 60 million accounts
10. Emily in Paris (Season 1) - 58 million accounts

Netflix Top 10 Films - 2021

These are the Top 10 Netflix Films (2021) in which the number of accounts that have watched at least two minutes of that title in the first 28 days on Netflix;

1. Extraction - 99 million accounts
2. Bird Box - 89 million accounts
3. Spenser Confidential - 85 million accounts
4. 6 Underground - 83 million accounts
5. Murder Mystery - 83 million accounts
6. The Old Guard - 78 million accounts
7. Enola Holmes - 77 million accounts
8. Project Power - 75 million accounts
9. Army of the Dead - 75 million accounts
10. Fatherhood - 74 million accounts

From this first ranking, we see how Bridgerton's first season has the absolute record with  82 million accounts that have seen it, followed by the first part of  Lupine and  The Witcher with  76 million accounts that have viewed them. In the top 3 of the films, we find, in order of preferences,  Extraction,  Bird Box, and  Spenser Confidential.

Netflix also shared the same rankings ordered in terms of viewing time, always compared to the first 28 days of life of the content on the platform.

Netflix Top 10 Series - 2021

These are the Top 10 Netflix Series (2021) in which the total view hours per title in its first 28 days on Netflix;

1. Bridgerton (Season 1) - 625 million watch hours
2. La Casa di Carta 4 - 619 million viewing hours
3. Stranger Things 3 - 582 million viewing hours
4. The Witcher (Season 1) - 541 million viewing hours
5. Thirteen (Season 2) - 496 million viewing hours
6. Thirteen (Season 1) - 476 million viewing hours
7. You (Season 2) - 457 million viewing hours
8. Stranger Things 2 - 427 million viewing hours
9. La Casa di Carta 3 - 426 million viewing hours
10. Ginny & Georgia (Season 1) - 381 million viewing hours.

Netflix Top 10 Films - 2021

These are the Top 10 Netflix Films (2021) in which the total view hours per title in its first 28 days on Netflix;

1. Bird Box - 282 million viewing hours
2. Extraction - 231 million viewing hours
3. The Irishman - 215 million viewing hours
4. The Kissing Booth 2 - 209 million viewing hours
5. 6 Underground - 205 million viewing hours
6. Spenser Confidential - 197 million viewing hours
7. Enola Holmes - 190 million viewing hours
8. Army of the Dead - 187 million viewing hours
9. The Old Guard - 186 million viewing hours
10. Murder Mystery - 170 million viewing hours

In this second ranking, we see how Bridgerton's first season is confirmed as an absolute favorite by Netflix subscribers with 625 million hours of viewing. This is followed by the fourth season of Money Heist ( 619 million hours ) and the third of Stranger Things ( 582 million hours ). For movies, Bird Box is the most-watched, Extraction is second and The Irishman is in third place