“Mank,” David Fincher’s Netflix biopic of screenwriter Herman Mankiewicz, is considered a leading Oscar contender but debuted to very little initial response. Available on Friday, it showed up at #10 Saturday (the first day it could chart), and has not reappeared since. The black-and-white film starring Gary Oldman and Amanda Seyfried didn’t gain the attention of other high-profile originals like “Da 5 Bloods,” “The Trial of the Chicago 7,” and “Hillbilly Elegy,” all of which debuted at first or second. Bumping “Mank” from 10th place was the 2000 Adam Sandler comedy “Little Nicky.” (At this writing, it ranks at #7.)
On the four VOD charts we track, four different films took #1. Two of these are Premium VOD offerings from Universal, which adds a PVOD strategy after three weeks of theatrical release. “Freaky,” from Blumhouse Prods., tops FandangoNow’s price-oriented chart and placed #1 despite its Friday release. The film also is at #4 at AppleTV and #6 at GooglePlay. Expect it to surface on Spectrum next week, where “Let Him Go” took #1 this week. “Buddy Games,” from director-actor Josh Duhamel, is #1 at GooglePlay. “The Grinch,” the 2018 animated retelling of the Dr. Seuss story, took #1 at AppleTV after leaving Netflix, where it has ranked high for the past few weeks. “Fatman,” the standard-price Santa-themed action comedy starring Mel Gibson, placed on all four charts. The Christmas tie is key to seven of the 21 total films listed below, including three that ranked among the top 13 in theaters this weekend. “Elf” was #6 among ticket buyers, the highest library title of the week, and placed on three streaming lists. “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” and “Polar Express” are also in theaters. Two fresh films debuted: “Wander,” a mystery with Aaron Eckhart and Tommy Lee Jones, showed up at AppleTV and FandangoNow, and “Girl” with Bella Thorne is popular at Spectrum. Half the titles on Netflix’s top 10 are holiday related, but its two most popular films are recent action titles that apparently feel new to the streamer’s subscribers: The 2018 “Peppermint” with Jennifer Garner leads, with the even less-remembered 2016 release “Marauders” starring Bruce Willis at #2.
Apple TV
Ranked by number of transactions, with position as of Monday, December 7
FandangoNOW
Ranked by revenue accrued not transactions, for November 30 – December 6
Spectrum
Ranked by transactions between November 27 – December 3; all priced $6.99 except where noted
Google Play
Ranked by number of transactions, with the daily position as of Monday, December 7
Netflix Movies
Most-viewed, current ranking as of Monday, December 7; originals include both Netflix-produced and -acquired titles
