The Sandman has dethroned Stranger Things as the most watched Netflix streaming series.
As reported by Variety, Nielsen has released its streaming viewership numbers for the week of Aug. 8 and The Sandman has come out on top with 1.4 billion minutes watched. Stranger Things, which had previously held on to the top spot for nearly three months, slipped to third place with 1.1 billion minutes watched. The remainder of Nielsen's top 10 list predominately featured titles currently available on Netflix with Uncharted (1.2B minutes), Day Shift (982M minutes), Virgin River (934M minutes), Locke & Key (919M minutes), NCIS (764M minutes) and Cocomelon (702M minutes) coming in second, fourth, fifth, sixth, eighth and ninth place, respectively, on the list. Disney+ was the only other streaming service to place in the top 10 with preschool animated series Bluey coming in seventh (917M minutes) and the Pixar film Lightyear coming in tenth (700M minutes).
The Sandman is based on the 75-issue DC Comic series of the same name created by Gaiman, Sam Kieth and Mike Dringenberg, which was originally published between 1989 and 1996. The first season initially consisted of 10 episodes, covering the events of the comic's first two story arcs, Preludes & Nocturnes and The Doll's House, while the bonus eleventh episode adapted the first two issues of the third story arc, Dream Country. Season 1 followed Morpheus, the Dream King and one of the seven Endless, as he escaped imprisonment and set out to restore order to his realm, the Dreaming.
Will Netflix Renew The Sandman?
Despite The Sandman's continued success atop Nielsen and Netflix's streaming charts, Gaiman has warned fans that high viewership numbers might not be enough to get the series renewed for a second season. "Because Sandman is a really expensive show. And for Netflix to release the money to let us make another season we have to perform incredibly well," he said in response to a fan on Twitter in late August. Gaiman offered an update on social media a few days after the exchange, revealing that the odds of The Sandman being renewed were "getting higher every day."
The Sandman executive producer David S. Goyer has assured fans that despite the lack of a Season 2 renewal, additional scripts for the Netflix fantasy drama series were currently being worked on, revealing that it was easier to write the Season 2 scripts knowing the audience was familiar with the show's core characters and concepts.
The first season of The Sandman is currently available to stream on Netflix.
Source: Variety