‘The Sandman’ Had An Incredible 10-Day Opening On Netflix

What a journey for a show that was in development hell for so many years. Efforts to adapt the beloved comic book series The Sandman date all the way back to 1991. Joseph Gordon-Levitt was attached to produce, star in, and direct a film adaptation back in 2013. NetflixNFLX
signed a deal to produce a series in June 2019. The production has gone through so many twists and turns that it seemed unlikely that we’d ever watch the story play out on screen.

Cut to the week of August 8, 2o22, and The Sandman had one of the strongest Season 1 openings for an English-language show in recent memory on Netflix.

Obviously we knew the series performed well. After all, The Sandman scored a perfect week on Netflix’s Top 10 charts, becoming just the fourth new show to pull that off in 2022. And the series has occupied either the #1 or #2 position on the Top 10 list every single day since its premiere. But those numbers didn’t quite tell the full story.

These numbers did, however. Today it was revealed that The Sandman scored 198 million total global hours of watch time during its first ten days on Netflix. That makes The Sandman one of the most successful shows to debut on Netflix since the streaming service started releasing these numbers back in June 2021.

In fact, only two other English-language series have posted better 10-day openings with their first seasons: Inventing Anna and Maid. Here are the ten highest 10-day totals since Netflix started releasing that data:

1. Inventing Anna – 273.3 million hours
2. Maid – 227.6 million hours
3. The Sandman – 198 million hours
4. Vikings: Valhalla – 194 million hours
5. Sex/Life – 156.6 million hours
6. The Lincoln Lawyer – 153.2 million hours
7. Pieces of Her – 149.4 million hours
8. Stay Close – 144.9 million hours
9. Clickbait – 127.8 million hours
10. The Ultimatum: Marry or Move On – 102.2 million hours

It’s pretty incredible to see how far ahead The Sandman ranks against some stiff competition. After Vikings: Valhalla, no show has been able to eclipse 160 million hours of watch time. So that puts The Sandman in some pretty elite company.

It’s not surprising that The Sandman didn’t reach the incredible heights of Inventing Anna and Maid. The former show spent 65 consecutive days on the U.S. Top 10 charts (the sixth-highest ever) and 14 consecutive days in the #1 position (something only 15 other shows have done). And while Maid didn’t ever reach first place on the domestic charts (thanks to Squid Game and You), the show did manage to spend 82 days on the Top 10 (the 11th-most ever).

I just listed quite a few accolades and milestones in regards to Inventing Anna and Maid—which means The Sandman is in pretty elite company. While shows like The Lincoln Lawyer might seem more impressive for capturing 14 consecutive days in the #1 position, The Sandman has shown that there’s more than meets the eye when it comes to the Top 10 charts.

So where does The Sandman go from here? Does it have the longevity that both Inventing Anna and Maid had? It’s hard to imagine The Sandman reaching the highs of either, as Inventing Anna posted 130.8 million hours of watch time in its third week, while Maid nabbed 129.3 million hours. But I imagine The Sandman will do much better than Viking: Valhalla’s 41.8 million third week, which means the show that almost never was will continue to separate itself from the Netflix pack.