David Farnor | On 23, Jul 2020

Netflix’s The Old Guard is currently on track to reach 72 million households in its first month, the streaming giant has revealed.

Directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood and based on the graphic novel by Greg Rucka, it follows a covert group of tight-knit mercenaries with a mysterious inability to die have fought to protect the mortal world for centuries. But when the team is recruited to take on an emergency mission and their extraordinary abilities are suddenly exposed, the group must eliminate the threat of those who seek to replicate and monetize their power by any means necessary.

Charlize Theron and Kiki Layne lead a cast that includes Chiwetel Ejiofor, Harry Melling and Matthias Schoenaerts, and the resulting mix of talent has proven a success, with Netflix predicting 72 million households to have chosen to watch the film within a month of its debut – putting it safely among the 10 most-watched Netflix original films, behind only Extraction (99 million), Brit Box (89 million), Spenser Confidential (85 million), 6 Underground (83 million) and Murder Mystery (73 million).

Of course, those figures are worth taking with a large pinch of salt. Where before, the streaming giant classed a “view” as someone watching 70 per cent of a movie or a single episode of a show. Now, it’s changed its measurements that it says is more accurate. Now, Netflix will count the number of times that an account chooses to watch a title for “at least 2 minutes”, which it deems as “long enough to indicate the choice was intentional”, as opposed to an accidental click.

Nonetheless, the “lean, mean comic book thriller is a promising franchise starter,” we wrote in our review.

Now, Theron has spoken about the potential for a sequel, telling Variety that a second movie hasn’t yet been greenlit.

“We’re still pushing this one out,” she said. “Let’s have a little resting period, but just given the fact that all of us really want to do it, I’m sure when it’s the right time, we’ll start the conversation.”

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