If you look, you die.
That’s the premise of Netflix’s Sandra Bullock film “Bird Box.” It’s one part “The Happening” and one part “A Quiet Place” with monsters that, once seen, make people commit suicide. This means that everyone hoping to survive must be blindfolded.
It might sound ridiculous, but the atmospheric thriller, directed by “The Night Manager’s” Susanne Bier, has become Netflix’s biggest hit, with over 45 million people watching it through its first week of release.
How did this small thriller with a reported budget of only $19.8 million, become the streaming service’s most successful hit? It seems to be a combination of three elements, not including luck — Sandra Bullock’s star power, its release just before the holidays, and the countless memes being made about the movie.
Netflix releases new movies and television shows each week, oftentimes with little publicity. Because of their high quantity of content, many projects find themselves flying under the radar, just to be scrolled past on the site’s streaming interface. However, “Bird Box” star Sandra Bullock proved to be a main drawing point for audiences.
The Oscar-winning actress, who recently led the all-female “Ocean’s 8” to box office success, is undoubtedly a star. As many looked for contenders for what to watch, they saw Bullock’s name on the poster and likely wondered “What’s ‘Miss Congeniality’ doing in a Netflix movie?” Curiosity seemed to get the best of them, and before they knew it, they were watching “Bird Box.”
“The Blind Side” actress is certainly attracting viewers to the film, as is its supporting cast, which includes “American Horror Story’s” Sarah Paulson, “Moonlight’s” Trevante Rhodes and the idiosyncratic John Malkovich.
Releasing worldwide on December 13, “Bird Box” became a prime contender for people to watch during their holiday break. As many sat around their Christmas trees looking for something to stream as a family, this film, which flew relatively under the radar before its debut, seemed like a viable option for a movie night. This was clearly not a singular thought, as close to half a billion people watched the film on its first seven days of release, but it proves how solid the marketing and release strategy was for “Bird Box’s” success.
The film’s marketing was, no doubt, important, but the streaming giant couldn’t have expected the movie to become one of 2018’s final meme formats.
With its release just as winter break began, many college and high school students found themselves with plenty of free time to create different memes related to the movie, which caused a firestorm on social media. Twitter, Reddit, and Instagram were all flooded with different “Bird Box” memes, which did more to hype up the film than any preview could have.
As everyone scrolled through their feeds that became increasingly populated by memes relating to the movie, they almost felt like they had to watch it. The almost countless posts proved to be some of the best viral marketing possible, as it was all free and produced directly by and for the increasingly hard to reach “Gen Z.” Some of the younger viewers didn’t even know who Sandra Bullock was, to which Twitter did not take kindly!
After watching the movie, many decided to try the “’Bird Box’ Challenge” which involved trying to navigate through life blindfolded, just as Bullock and the characters were forced to do. While it began as a harmless joke, it was quickly taken to the next level when some took the blindfolded test behind the wheel of their car (again, straight out of the movie). Multiple car crashes were reported and many were injured, which caused Netflix to release a statement via Twitter dissuading their audience from trying the “’Bird Box’ Challenge.”
“Bird Box” proved to be a perfect storm for Netflix over the holiday season. Despite its tepid critical response (it currently has only 62% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes and a 51% on Metacritic) the star power Sandra Bullock brought to the table, its release over the holiday break, and the boost in publicity the film got thanks to the memes yielded Netflix their most viewed, and most buzzed about, film of the year.
Have you seen “Bird Box” yet and, if not, why not? Let me know in the comments below!