Wake Up Dead Man Stays No. 1 on Netflix for a Second Week — But It’s Nowhere Near Glass Onion

Rian Johnson just dropped another Benoit Blanc whodunit on Netflix, and it is doing well... just not Glass Onion well. 'Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery' has been #1 on Netflix's English-language films chart for two weeks straight, but the viewership gap between this and the last one is pretty wide.

The numbers (and why they look different this time)

The sequel started streaming two weeks ago and stayed on top in week two, but here's how it stacks up next to Glass Onion:

• Wake Up Dead Man (week 2): 20.9 million views, 50.8 million hours watched
• Glass Onion (first 3 days): 82.1 million hours watched
• Glass Onion (following week): stayed at #1 with 127.2 million hours watched
• Glass Onion hit Netflix's all-time Top 10 most-viewed movies after just 10 days
• After Netflix switched to a 91-day views model, its ranking shifted, but it still held onto the all-time list until the release of Carry-On earlier this year

Short version: Wake Up Dead Man is a legit hit, but it is not on the same rocket-ship trajectory as Glass Onion. Different era, different metric, different outcome.

So... is the movie any good?

Yes, and it is weirder in a fun way. This one leans gothic, with a strong Edgar Allan Poe vibe running through it. Critic Chris Bumbray had a blast with it and singled out Josh O'Connor as possibly the most compelling lead character the series has followed so far. He also made the case that this would crush with a crowd if it got a proper theatrical run. I buy that.

What happens next for Knives Out?

There is no fourth movie officially in the pipeline yet, but Johnson and Daniel Craig are already spitballing ideas. Johnson said last month:

"Creatively, I feel energized after making this one. Daniel and I are already starting to formulate ... what could the next one be if we do another one?"

Translation: nothing to announce, but it sure sounds like Blanc's next case is a matter of when, not if.