Millie Bobby Brown is undisputed Netflix royalty, right? After leading Stranger Things, the jewel in the crown of the platform’s original TV programming, since 2016 and starring in the uber-successful Enola Holmes movies, Brown and Netflix go together like, uh, well, Mike and Eleven.
That’s why it’s so shocking that Brown has been knocked off her throne by a tween queen from yesteryear. On March 8, Netflix unveiled Damsel, a feminist-flavored fantasy action flick with the gift of having MBB in the lead. As you’d expect, the movie — despite middling reviews — roasted the competition to immediately reign supreme as the number one most-watched film on Netflix worldwide. This weekend, however, has finally seen Damsel thrown into distress by a surprise usurper to its crown.
Bow down before Lindsay Lohan, peasants, because Irish Wish is the most popular movie on Netflix around the globe (as per Flix Patrol), pushing Damsel into second place for the first time. Released a week later, on March 15, the high-concept romcom marks Lohan’s second collaboration with Netflix following 2022’s Falling for Christmas. Although it’s fared even worse with critics than Damsel — 56% vs. 37% on Rotten Tomatoes — viewers are loving it even more than Brown’s vehicle right now.
Irish Wish distresses Damsel to knock it from the Netflix top spot
We’ll have to wait for the dust to settle to see which movie earns the most viewing figures overall, but they’ve both performed impressively well. Damsel opened to a dragon-sized 35.3 million views in its first three days of availability while Irish Wish logged a whopping 698.8 million minutes viewed (that’s minutes, not whole views) in its first full week.
Still, whereas we all could’ve predicted Damsel to top the charts, given Brown’s proven track record on Netflix going back years, this massive indicator of 1990s/2000s icon Lohan’s continued popularity is perhaps a little surprising. Although maybe it shouldn’t be — 2024 did kick off with a Mean Girls remake (which she cameod in), after all.
All I’m saying is, I know Stranger Things mostly focuses on ’80s nostalgia, but I wouldn’t surprised if Ted Sarandos is giving creators the Duffers a call to see if there’s any way they can squeeze in a Lohan cameo at the last minute. Going by the evidence, the combined power of both Brown and Lohan in the hit series’ last season could make it the biggest smash in streaming history.
At the very least, a third holiday-themed Lohan romcom is no doubt already in the works. She’s done Christmas, St. Patrick’s Day… Expect to see her in Cinco De Mayo Mayhem, coming to Netflix spring 2025.