Netflix Claims 'The Queen's Gambit' Is The Most Popular Limited Series In The Streaming Service's History

Godless” is a series that holds great weight around The Playlist. Stop most of our contributors in the digital hallways of our website and ask about “Godless,” the Netflix limited series from Scott Frank that was released in 2017, and you’ll hear us rave about the tight story, the incredible acting, and great style. But sadly, outside of awards recognition, it’s hard to say that “Godless” made a “Stranger Things”-esque dent in the world of Netflix. However, Frank recently returned with “The Queen’s Gambit” and according to Netflix, this new limited series isn’t just popular, it’s the most popular limited series in the platform’s history.

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“Three years ago when Scott Frank first approached us about adapting ‘The Queen’s Gambit’ – Walter Tevis’ 1983 book about a young chess prodigy – we felt it was a compelling tale,” said Peter Friedlander, VP of Original Series at Netflix. “Beth is an underdog who faces addiction, loss, and abandonment. Her success – against the odds – speaks to the importance of perseverance, family, and finding, and staying true to, yourself.”

He continued, “However, I don’t think any of us could have predicted that ‘The Queen’s Gambit’ – and the extraordinary Anya Taylor-Joy – would become the global phenomena they are today, or our biggest limited scripted series ever.”

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Now, this is the portion of the “Netflix says [Insert Film/TV Project] is the biggest thing ever” report where we try to go over the evidence to back up these claims. And we have to hand it to Netflix, this time, because the statistic that is used isn’t nearly as suspect as we normally see.

Friedlander explained, “On Netflix, a record-setting 62 million households chose to watch ‘The Queen’s Gambit’ in its first 28 days. Its global reach has been extraordinary – from Russia and Hong Kong, to France, Taiwan and Australia. In fact, the show made the Top 10 in 92 countries and ranked No. 1 in 63 countries, including the UK, Argentina, Israel, and South Africa.”

We’ve seen Netflix try to release stats saying they predict that a show or film will have XXXX number of viewers over the first month. But with “The Queen’s Gambit” actually out for more than 28 days, it appears that the streaming service is willing to share the most concrete data we can expect. That said, the idea of what it means to “watch” a Netflix series is still up for debate. Is that the full run? One episode? Five minutes of the first episode? That’s still something we don’t know.

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But it’s a fair assessment to take Netflix on its word that “The Queen’s Gambit” is one of its most popular Original Series to date and its most popular limited series, even if the numbers might be a tad inflated. And for Scott Frank, Anya Taylor-Joy, and the various other folks involved in the creation of the show, this is cause for celebration. And the inevitable question — what does the sequel look like? (Kidding, but given how the industry works, only slightly joking.)