​Netflix lifts the lid on its most popular movie in months​

Netflix has released its latest viewership stats, revealing just how popular its current number one film, Atlas, really is.

Netflix subscribers spent 56.3 million hours watching Atlas from 24 May to 26 May, equivalent to 28.2 million views based on its 2-hour runtime. Not bad for three days on stream, right?

These numbers make Atlas Netflix’s biggest English language movie hit since Damsel, which pulled in the crowds despite middling reviews. It hit 64.8 million hours in its first week.

Atlas is a hit then, but will it go down as an all-timer Netflix original?

Our bet is the streamer hoped to recreate the kind of splash made by previous Netlix Jennifer Lopez vehicle, The Mother.

That hasn’t quite happened. The Mother hit an impressive 83.7 million hours in its first week on stream at release in mid 2023.

Perhaps that jarring combo of softer implications of the title, the R-rated violence (15 in the UK) and straight-up thriller genre helped that previous film — currently number 8 on the list of the most popular Netflix films to date.

Atlas has also received lower critic and audience scores. With 75 critics reviews and more than 500 audience scores in, Atlas appears to be a certified Rotten Tomatoes stinker.

Yet to see it? Atlas is a sci-fi flick that mines everyone's favourite (or most hated) buzzword, AI.

Simu Liu plays an ultra-baddie AI robot who wants to take down humanity. J-Lo is a scientist Atlas Sherphard. She finds her only way out is to trust in her AI robot frenemy Smith (played by Gregory James Cohan) to help save the day.

Atlas was made as part of a multi-year deal Netflix signed with Lopez’s production company Nuyorican Productions in 2021.

It has plenty more on its slate, including a Bob The Builder movie and an adaptation of Kiss of the Spider Woman. But it's not yet clear if any of its upcoming projects will land on Netflix.

• The best movies on Netflix (May 2024)