Stranger Things and Sean Combs: The Reckoning Take Over Netflix's December Charts
Even after a 57% week-over-week dip, Stranger Things Season 5 still rules Netflix’s Top 10, while Sean Combs: The Reckoning roars in with an impressive December debut.
Netflix may be covered in tinsel right now, but over in Hawkins it is still Halloween. 'Stranger Things' is running laps around everything else on the service, even after a three-year breather between seasons.
'Stranger Things' keeps the crown in early December
The first four episodes of Season 5 kept the heat on from December 1–7 with 25.2 million views. That is roughly a 57% dip from its record-breaking Thanksgiving launch, but the number is still massive. Since premiere, Season 5 has stacked up 84.8 million views overall.
The most fun (and slightly bizarre) part? All four earlier seasons are also back in the Weekly Top 10 like it is 2016 all over again:
- Season 1: No. 3 with 8.2 million views
- Season 2: No. 5 with 6.8 million views
- Season 3: No. 6 with 5.9 million views
- Season 4: No. 7 with 5.3 million views
Netflix is spacing out the Hawkins chaos: three more episodes drop on December 25, and then the finale lands December 31 with a 2-hour-and-5-minute runtime. Clear your New Year’s Eve pregame accordingly.
Sean Combs: The Reckoning muscles onto the chart
Also making a loud entrance: 'Sean Combs: The Reckoning'. The four-part docuseries, executive produced by Curtis '50 Cent' Jackson, opened with 21.8 million views in its first week. That puts it right on the heels of 'Stranger Things' Season 5’s second-week tally, which is no small feat for a brand-new doc.
'The Abandons' rides in
Netflix’s new Western, 'The Abandons', debuted with 7.3 million views. The series stars Gillian Anderson, Lena Headey, and Nick Robinson, and centers on a group of families who get targeted when a well-connected, power-hungry force decides their land is too valuable to leave alone. It is dusty, brutal, and very much about who gets to keep what in the frontier.
So who wins December?
Holiday fare like 'My Secret Santa' and 'Jingle Bell Heist' will probably see a bump as we get closer to Christmas, but with the staggered release and that end-of-year mega-finale, I would not bet against the Duffers holding the top spot through New Year’s. The momentum is there, the nostalgia is doing overtime, and the numbers are backing it up.