Tim Burton’s ‘Wednesday’ Is Officially the Biggest Netflix Show Ever After 1 Week

TV

Jenna Ortega and Tim Burton give Wednesday Addams a slightly tweaked yet nostalgic story in the Netflix series. 'Wednesday' hits gold as it gets the top spot on Netflix's Top 10 list.

Published on November 29, 2022

Wednesday is Tim Burton’s first small-screen project and it gets a clap on the back from Netflix. It officially becomes the most streamed series one week after its premiere before the Thanksgiving holiday. The series stars Jenna Ortega as an older 16-year-old version in a coming-of-age story as she attends Nevermore Academy. The series’s supernatural mystery, investigation into heinous murders and more has led it to outshine Stranger Things Season 4.

‘Wednesday’ gets over 340 million hours viewed by fans on Netflix

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Burton’s Wednesday has amassed a considerable amount of hours viewed on the Netflix within its first week. As fans know, the first week for a new series is critical in determining its value and popularity. Die-hard fans of the franchise were eager to see if Ortega had what it takes to cohesively combine the classic Wednesday Addams with a more modern version and a Burton twist.

It seems that Wednesday has surpassed everyone’s expectations. According to Netflix’s Top 10, the series has gotten 341,230,000 hours watched by fans within the first week of its premiere on Nov. 23. Taking a look back at Netflix’s other famed original series, Wednesday outshines Stranger Things Season 4, which amassed roughly 335 million hours within its first week.

But Wednesday still has a long way to go until it can surpass Netflix’s globally famous K-drama Squid Game. The original K-drama by Hwang Dong-hyuk still holds the top honor with over 500 million hours watched in its first week. With this newfound honor to Wednesday, fans are hopeful Netflix will renew the Burton series for a second season. Ortega’s character still has a lot of loose threads to the mystery to explore.

‘Wednesday’ is Tim Burton’s first venture into a TV series for Netflix

While die-hard fans had their doubts about Wednesday, all the pieces seemed to have fallen into place from the get-go. Burton is a notorious movie director known for his dark gothic style that seemed perfect to bring to life Wednesday Addams into a Netflix series. But it would also be Burton’s first small-screen project.

The director explained in a behind-the-scenes featurette that the macabre character spoke to him about how he sees the world. He even admits he would have dated someone like Wednesday in his youth. Along with the director, Wednesday needed the perfect leading actor.

When Jenna Ortega auditioned for Wednesday and Burton, it was a no-brainer. A big factor was Ortega’s decision to do the audition while still wearing her bloody makeup from her role in X. The actor naturally embodied aspects that made her version of Wednesday work. Ortega even stopped blinking to give the character a creepier vibe.