To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before is one of Netflix’s most viewed original films
David Farnor | On 17, Oct 2018
Netflix knows what you did last summer, and it probably involved watching To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before.
If you spend this year’s heatwave indoors enjoying To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before on repeat, you’re not alone: the movie has become one of Netflix’s biggest movie hits to date, despite only being available for a couple of months.
The streaming giant revealed the movie’s success in a letter and audio report for shareholders about its Q3 earnings and performance. Netflix CEO Reed Hastings highlighted the service’s “Summer of Love”, which saw it build on the success of Set It Up and The Kissing Booth to release a string of romantic comedies, including Like Father (starring Kristen Bell and Kelsey Grammer in a daughter-father dramedy) and Sierra Burgess Is a Loser (a high school flick starring Stranger Things’ Barb, Shannon Purser). Chief among them all, though, was To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, starring Lana Condor and Noah Centineo, which won fans over the world for its diverse cast and realistic characters.
“The result sits alongside Love, Simon this year as a growing generation of high school movies that reflect what real life is actually like, not only in terms of diverse casting and choice of stories but also in terms of honest, feel-good emotions,” we wrote in our review. “The really feel-good news? The novel is the first of three books about [protagonist] Lara Jean Covey. Start writing your letters to Netflix now to ask them to complete the trilogy.”
That may now come to pass, judging by Netflix’s data. The film is “one of our most viewed original films ever”, said Hastings, with “strong repeat viewing”. As of today, more than 80 million accounts have watched one or more of Netflix’s Summer of Love films globally – and Netflix is already in production for its next set of original rom-coms.
In the meantime, Netflix has proven its ability to make veritable stars out of its casts. Noah Centineo became a meme in his own right this summer, after appearing in both Sierra Burgess Is a Loser and To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before – he was promptly crowned the internet’s favourite dream boyfriend. Condor and Centineo have both seen their social media followings blow up too, after the film’s release: Centineo’s Instagram count has grown from 0.8 million to 13.4 million, while Condor’s has gone from 0.1 million to 5.5 million.