Netflix's ‘Fool Me Once’ Scores Big on Nielsen Streaming Charts (original) (raw)

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Published Feb 2, 2024, 1:09 PM EST

Ryan is a lifestyle and culture journalist born and raised in the Philippines. He primarily covers film, television, music, and all things pop culture. Beyond writing, you can find him buried in thriller novels or off exploring the world on occasion. He deeply romanticizes a slow, peaceful life — even though he’s almost always drowning in deadlines (insert skull emoji here).

Summary

Fool Me Once garnered massive viewership upon its release on Netflix on New Year's Day, delivering quite an opening week for the streamer. Per Nielsen's streaming charts (via THR), the eight-part thriller series has managed to acquire 3.04 billion minutes of viewing in the first week of 2024 — within the January 1–7 viewing window — and has placed at the top of the data measurement firm's streaming charts for the said week, surpassing Prime Video's Reacher with 1.38 billion minutes viewed. This makes Fool Me Once the only series to even exceed the 2 billion mark for this year, which comes as no surprise given the show's popularity since its debut on January 1.

The numbers that the whodunit series brought in have contributed to Netflix's great start to the year, making it the leading streaming platform in early 2024. In addition to Fool Me Once, other Netflix originals also made it to the list, including The Crown (718 million), The Brothers Sun (696 million), You Are What You Eat: A Twin Experiment(639 million), My Life With the Walter Boys (495 million), Berlin (393 million), and Dave Chappelle: The Dreamer (376 million). Apart from Nielsen's chart, Fool Me Once also made it at the top of the streamer's English TV list, having amassed a total of 23.9 million views in January.

‘Fool Me Once’ Became a Netflix Instant Hit

Based on Harlan Coben's book of the same name, created by Danny Brocklehurst for Netflix, Fool Me Once chronicles the thrilling story of an ex-military pilot and single mother, Maya Stern (Michelle Keegan), as she tries to cope with the murder of her husband, Joe Burkett (Richard Armitage), which occurred not long after she lost her sister in a similar circumstance. Following closer investigations, she soon uncovers the truth that ties the two incidents together, sending her and her family down a treacherous path. The series immediately drew viewers in with its intriguing premise, which only gets more compelling as the show progresses. And with its shocking ending — after all the surprising twists and turns at the beginning of the series — Fool Me Once has become one of Netflix's most successful and beautifully crafted television shows to date.

Will There Be a Sequel to ‘Fool Me Once’?

Considering that Fool Me Once is a limited series based solely on Coben's novel, it is unlikely that the streamer will be producing more Fool Me Once shows in the future. Fortunately, there are a plethora of shows on Netflix that are based on the celebrated author's work, such as Safe, The Innocent, Stay Close, The Woods, The Stranger, Hold Tight, and Gone For Good. Moreover, Coben has recently announced that there are two more TV adaptations in the works. So, if you enjoyed all the shows based on his novels, you can look forward to more adaptations (including Just One Look) coming your way soon.

Fool Me Once is now streaming on Netflix. You can watch the trailer below: