Pixar’s Soul made history over Christmas week when it debuted at the number one spot on the Nielsen streaming ratings for the week of Christmas.
The computer animated film made history for Pixar and its parent company The Walt Disney Company by becoming the first feature film to ever top the streaming ratings, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Behind Soul came the work comedy The Office, which has been a strong performer for Netflix in recent years.
Top: Pixar’s Soul was the most-streamed movie or show December 21-27, with viewers watching 16.5 million minutes of it, according to The Hollywood Reporter; still from Soul
Soul hit number one on the week of December 21-27, with viewers streaming it for approximately 1.67 billion minutes.
That would equate to watching the movie about 16.5 million times as the movie is 101 minutes, although many viewers in the streaming figures would only have watched parts of the movie.
Soul stars Jamie Foxx as main character Joe Gardner, a gifted jazz pianist struggling to progress as an artist while feeling bound by students who help pay the bills.
After a careless accident, he finds himself in a land outside of life where he is tasked with helping a wandering soul (Tina Fey) find her passion so she can be born into a body.
The film has near universal acclaim and currently has an impressive 96 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Soul debuted on the Disney + streaming service, but unlike the less well-received live-action Mulan remake, subscribers didn’t have to pay an extra fee to access it.
Milestone: Soul is the first film ever to surpass the streaming figures, which are usually led by television shows; still from Soul
Sweet Music: Jamie Foxx stars as a gifted but struggling jazz musician who must accompany a lost soul after shuffling prematurely from this mortal role; still from Soul
In second place in the streaming ratings came The Office, a longtime favorite of viewers.
It was streamed for 1.44 billion minutes as viewers rushed to watch it before it left Netflix.
The Office had been available to Netflix subscribers for years and was one of the service’s most popular offerings, but it moved to NBC’s new streaming service Peacock at the beginning of the new year.
The streamer has multiple pricing tiers and the first two seasons of the show are available for free, but seasons three through nine are only available to paid subscribers.
To entice new viewers, Peacock offers extended versions of some episodes with deleted scenes.
Peacock is not among the streamers surveyed by Nielsen at this point, but he and HBO Max are expected to be added soon.
Strong result: The Office, a longtime favorite of viewers, came in second in the streaming ratings with 1.44 billion streaming minutes; still from The Office
Switch industries: viewers rushed to watch the workplace comedy, which after years left Netflix on January 1 to switch to NBC’s streamer Peacock; still from The Office
Of the newer movies and shows, Netflix’s Bridgerton came in third over Christmas week with 1.2 billion minutes of viewing.
The romance series is based on the popular Julia Quinn novel series about Regency era London high society.
George Clooney’s Netflix movie The Midnight Sky was in fourth place with 1.1 billion, despite mediocre reviews.
Disney + was back in the top ten with The Mandalorian. The Star Wars spin-off series was watched for 1 billion minutes.
Romance: Of the newer movies and shows, Netflix’s Bridgerton came third over Christmas week with 1.2 billion minutes of watched; still from Bridgerton
Strong result: George Clooney’s Netflix movie The Midnight Sky was in fourth place with 1.1 billion, despite mediocre reviews; Director George Clooney seen on set
In a galaxy far, far away, Disney + was back in the top ten with The Mandalorian. The Star Wars spin-off series was viewed for 1 billion minutes; still from The Mandalorian
Due to its proximity to the Christmas holidays, viewers turned to holiday movies to mark the season.
Jim Carrey’s live-action adaptation of How The Grinch Stole Christmas was watched for 705 million minutes to take sixth place, and Netflix’s The Christmas Chronicles 2 was watched for 660 minutes for ninth place.
The top 10 in streaming ended with The Crown (700 million minutes), Grey’s Anatomy (691 million minutes) and Criminal Minds (648 million minutes), all of which were available to stream on Netflix.
It’s the Season: Due to its proximity to the Christmas holidays, viewers turned to holiday movies to mark the season, such as How The Grinch Stole Christmas on Netflix