If a movie debuts on a streaming and not in theaters, its success is measured by viewers rather than ticket revenue. As of right now, Extraction is shaping up to be Netflix's biggest movie of all-time with a projected 90 million viewers in its first four weeks on the platform.
It's been a hit for star Chris Hemsworth, first-time director Sam Hargrave, and producers Joe and Anthony Russo (who worked on the film through their newly launched AGBO production label).
Joe Russo also penned the screenplay, and was recently asked for his thoughts on Extraction's performance by Collider. "It’s interesting, they don’t do a lot of projecting. They’re very guarded with their information, which is a good thing because you don’t set expectations up and then not hit them. So I’m happy with that as a filmmaker there’s not a lot of tracking to either get your hopes up or dash your hopes."
"It just performs and then you find out how it’s performing," he continued. "When you think about the amount of people and if you were to compare that to a box-office release, then that’s the equivalent of a movie making over a billion dollars in the market like that. But that’s a significant impression on an audience."
Anthony, meanwhile, adds: "Sometimes it’s hard to talk about in relation to box office because there’s more external. Those numbers are being released for an objective public narrative, and Netflix doesn’t handle things that way so it’s a little harder. But, yeah, at the very least we all know that it was a massive hit for Netflix. And like Joe was saying, it left an impression on our audience."
"I was just really grateful for that opportunity and that platform because it’s all about reaching audience," the filmmaker concludes.
Recently, we learned that a follow-up of some sort is now in the works, and it's clear Netflix has a franchise on its hand which could be as successful as John Wick or even Jason Bourne, two properties the film has been compared to a lot.