Netflix Sets A Record With A German Vampire Movie
Netflix's new vampire movie is taking off audiences worldwide.
This article is more than 2 years old
Streaming giant Netflix has long been known to be densely packed with International films and television shows. Shows like Black Mirror and Dark were able to achieve some notable success while others have fallen short and get lost amongst Netflix’s myriad of choices. However, the movie Blood Red Sky by German director Peter Thorwarth has skyrocketed the foreign genre on Netflix to new heights with an impressive 50 million views in just under a month.
Deadline sat down exclusively with the director of the new Netflix hit film to gain insight into just how Blood Red Sky broke through the record that was previously held by another German production entitled Barbarians. According to IMDb the movie is currently sitting in the top ten in 93 countries and holds the number one spot in 57 of them, including the United States. Deadline pointed out that it even holds the top spot in countries like Saudi Arabia and the Philippines, which typically do not have similar viewing palettes.
The director explained that apart from the Netflix film having a very diverse cast since it takes place during a transatlantic flight, the core of the movie is really about human emotion. Thorwarth went on to point out that, “I have noticed that viewers who don’t like horror movies kept watching it until the end because they were so touched by the story.” Human emotion is something very innate and guttural; thus, it has the unique ability to transcend cultural preferences or differences.
Blood Red Sky has been nine years in the making. Netflix was very lucky, according to Screen Rant, that they had David Kosse sign on as their VP of International film when he did, otherwise the project could have very well ended up in the hands of Universal International. In the aforementioned interview with Deadline, Thorwarth explained that he had been trying to get his script for the project picked up for quite some time and that he was showing it to anyone that he could. Kosse, who at the time was working for Universal International, was interested in making the movie. However, before anything could get started, he left for Netflix. Yet, Kosse didn’t forget about Thorwarth’s movie and reached out to him two years later once he had settled into his new position with Netflix.
Netflix, which for a while has been struggling to keep viewers satisfied with the content that they offer, is seeming to finally notice the err of their ways. In addition to Blood Red Sky, which was released on July 23rd, they have also confirmed that fans of their show Kid Cosmic can look forward to two more seasons of the much-loved series. The streaming giant has also started to branch out in creative ways. Netflix’s The Witcher has been enormously successful and quickly became a fan-favorite. Netflix is capitalizing on that fandom and offering viewers a unique experience to attend an immersive 3-day-long course on how to become just like Geralt. It’s certainly exciting to see Netflix stepping up its game and diversifying its profile in ways that are drawing in subscribers worldwide.
