The highly anticipated third and final season of Squid Game has taken over the world with a record-setting No. 1 debut in all countries ranked, making history as the first show to do so in its premiere week. In just three days, Season 3 amassed 60.1 million views — breaking the record for most views for a show in that time frame — and the rapid success of Seasons 2 and 3 made Squid Game the only show ever to make the Most Popular List in its first week.
Lee Jung-jae’s return as Player 456 received praise as “one of the greatest television performances of all time,” while Season 3 quickly became Netflix’s ninth most-watched non-English TV show ever. Both prior seasons of Squid Game also made the Top 10 in non-English TV last week, with Season 2 coming in at No. 3 (2.8 million views) and Season 1 at No. 6 (1.7 million views) — solidifying creator and director Hwang Dong-hyuk’s massively popular Korean drama as the world’s biggest TV show.
Korean content proved you don’t have to speak it to love it, as the critically acclaimed animated film, KPop Demon Hunters, claimed the No. 1 spot on the English Film list. The superstar K-pop trio HUNTR/X quickly became a global hit, as the film reached the Top 10 in all countries with an additional 24.2 million views in its second week, while its companion album had the biggest soundtrack debut of the year. The cultural influence didn’t end there — the film’s dance sequences are going viral on TikTok (even K-pop bands have joined the craze of the Soda Pop challenge), and Duolingo’s mascot had its own reaction to share. Plus, fans are devouring the merch collection on Netflix Shop, with items like the HUNTR/X Tee and Derpy Plush already among the top 5 bestsellers of the year.
Also in English film, audiences couldn’t look away from the documentary Trainwreck: Poop Cruise, which received 21.1 million views and debuted at No. 2 (sometimes the joke writes itself). The newest installment of the Trainwreck anthology series explores the 2013 cruise ship disaster that left thousands of passengers stranded at sea without plumbing. Speaking of seaside dramas, The Waterfront, from Dawson’s Creek creator Kevin Williamson, was a Top 10 hit once more as the No. 1 series on the English TV list (11.6 million views).
Tyler Perry’s emotional thriller Straw continued to hit movie fans in the feels, earning another 7.9 million views for the No. 3 spot on the English Film list. In English TV, all three seasons of the fan-favorite TV drama Ginny & Georgia continued to resonate with audiences — Season 3 stood firmly at No. 2 with an additional 4.8 million views, while Season 2 came in at No. 8 (1.9 million views) and Season 1 at No. 10 (1.8 million views).
Not to be outdone, Season 2 of the sports documentary series America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders continued to raise fans’ spirits, as it climbed to No. 3 in its second week with 2.8 million views, with UK crime thriller Dept. Q at No. 5 with 2.6 million views.
Finally, action lovers brought the German thriller Exterritorial to No. 4 on the Most Popular list, and revisited the Charlize Theron-starring The Old Guard in anticipation of the sequel’s upcoming premiere (No. 9 in English film, 3.2 million views).
