The Old Guard registers blockbuster numbers on Netflix

The Old Guard, a comic book action film starring Charlize Theron and directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood, has found a place in the top 10 most-watched Netflix original films ever. The movie is projected to hit 72 million households in the first month of release.

"THE OLD GUARD is breaking records! The Charlize Theron blockbuster is already among the top 10 most popular Netflix films ever — and Gina Prince-Bythewood is the first Black female director on the list. The film is currently on track to reach 72M households in its first 4 weeks!" the Netflix Film Twitter account announced on Saturday, just over a week after The Old Guard's release.

Watch the trailer for 'The Old Guard' here 

If the projection holds, The Old Guard will be the streamer's sixth most-watched original film, following Extraction (99 million), Bird Box (89 million), Spenser Confidential (85 million), 6 Underground (83 million) and Murder Mystery (83 million). It is followed by The Irishman (64 million), Triple Frontier (63 million), The Wrong Missy (59 million) and The Platform (56 million). The Old Guard is the only film on the top 10 to be directed by a woman of colour.

According to Netflix's viewership metrics, a 'view' is counted after a user spends two minutes watching a film, or an episode of a show. This metric was introduced recently. The previous metric considered a 'view' only after a user had watched 70% of a particular film or an episode of a show.

Earlier in the day, it was reported by Deadline that the streamer had committed to its biggest ever original project, The Gray Man, starring Chris Evans and Ryan Gosling and directed by Joe and Anthony Russo.