Netflix's "Bird Box" Gets Millions of Viewers, Inspires Countless Memes
*By Amanda Weston*
Netflix accounts had more than 45 million eyes glued to its newest film, "Bird Box." But that number may not cover the entire reach of the blindfold-horror movie's viewership.
In an unusual move, Netflix ($NFLX) [tweeted Friday](https://twitter.com/NetflixFilm/status/1078735051406204928) the movie set the record for the best first week ever for a Netflix film. (Netflix did not say how the "Bird Box" figure compares to the previous record.) The tweet ran counter to Netflix's usual policy of keeping viewership numbers under wraps.
Julia Alexander, reporter at The Verge, said one factor that may have played into the record-breaking viewership is its release during the holiday season.
"People are home. They're sitting with their families. They're bored or hiding away and so they put on Netflix and 'Bird Box' is sitting at the very top," Alexander told Cheddar Monday. "It's got A-list talent like Sandra Bullock and John Malkovich."
[Alexander noted](https://www.theverge.com/2018/12/30/18161741/bird-box-netflix-45-million-accounts-statistics-views) that 45 million is likely a conservative estimate of viewers, since multiple people can use one account and some may have watched with friends or family. To contribute to the viewership number, an account holder must have also watched at least 70 percent of the film, including credits.
Despite the film's dark storyline, social media has been [flooded with memes](https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/birdboxmemes/) adding funny captions to pictures of the characters in blindfolds.
Alexander explained it's easy to turn Netflix originals into memes because of how the platform is designed. If a user watches on a laptop, he or she can easily screenshot an image and upload it.
"When you have someone like Sandra Bullock looking terrified and she's wearing a blindfold, that can be parlayed to so many different scenarios that you don't even really need to see the movie to understand the context of the joke," Alexander said.
"The joke just kind of carries on without it. So if you have an image or a screenshot from a movie that's going viral and you add in a hashtag that suddenly ends up trending on Twitter, there's a good chance that people who have Netflix are going to tune in to see what the movie's about."
David Bowie's entire catalog of songs has officially been sold to Warner Music Group by his estate for an estimated $250 million. This means the group now has the full rights to almost all of David Bowie's recordings. But Bowie, just the latest music mega deal. Just last month, Bruce Springsteen sold his entire catalog to Sony Music Entertainment at what in fact maybe be the biggest transaction ever for a single artist's body of work. In addition, John Legend also cashed in by selling rights to his songs from 2004 to early last year. Culture Correspondent at NPR, Anastasia Tsioulcas, joined Cheddar to discuss more.
Season 6 "Bachelorette" Ali Manno joined Cheddar's Baker Machado to discuss "The Bachelor" franchise, promoting children’s creativity, and motherhood. Manno also touched on her partnership with the cereal brand Pebbles to use their imagination by getting them to submit artwork, which then ended up on display across the country. "What I love about this so much is it not only encourages kids to be creative but it shows when you are creative and you use your imagination, you could be in a mural in a major city," she said.
On this episode of Cheddar Reveals Richenda Sandlin-Tymitz, Marketing & Content Manager at Alaska Tour & Travel, breaks down when and how to plan your best trip to Alaska; Kristen Miller, Acting Executive Director, Alaska Wilderness League, discusses the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and the oil drilling that threatens it; Cheddar gets a look at Curiosity Stream's 'The Magic of the Wild.'
Richenda Sandlin-Tymitz, Marketing & Content Manager at Alaska Tour & Travel, joins Cheddar Reveals to break down when and how to plan your best trip to Alaska.
Kristen Miller, acting executive director, Alaska Wilderness League, discusses the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and the oil drilling that threatens it.
Ellen Fitzsimmons-Craft, assistant professor of psychiatry at Washington University School of Medicine, joins Cheddar News to discuss how chatbots can help prevent eating disorders and the research that uncovered these findings.
