Tyler Perry’s “Doing Life” opened at No. 3 on Netflix’s global movie chart, with 9.3 million views and 16.8 million hours viewed in its first three days, according to Netflix’s Top 10 list for Sept. 28 to Oct. 4.
How Doing Life Opened
The film streamed on Oct. 2, a Friday, so Netflix’s weekly count covers only Friday through Sunday. Netflix describes the 1 hour, 48 minute drama as the story of a single mother and a reformed ex-convict who form a bond through letters, in a Tudum article dated Oct. 6. Perry wrote and directed it and produced with Angi Bones and Tony L. Strickland.
The cast includes Naomi Baker, Jay Reeves, Tamberla Perry, Karen Obilom, Jasmine Sargent and Danielle Moné Truitt. Netflix rates it TV-MA. The Tudum page carries no quote from Perry or the cast. Netflix defines views as hours viewed divided by runtime, and the numbers on the list agree:
16.8 million hours over 1.8 hours is 9.3 million views. That works out to about 3.1 million views a day across the three days the film was available. The same list shows how close the race for second place was. “The Widower: ‘Til Death Do Us Part” ranked second with 17.8 million hours viewed, only 1.0 million more than Doing Life’s
16.8 million. Doing Life’s three-day total came to about 5.6 million hours a day, against about 20.4 million hours a day for “Beauty in Black” in its first four days. The gap reflects runtime: a viewer who finishes “Beauty in Black” logs 6.3 hours, while a viewer who finishes Doing Life logs 1.8.
How the Perry Launches Compare
Perry has put three titles into the top three of a Netflix weekly list since late August, and the daily pace is nearly identical for the two that did not start on a Monday.
“Beauty in Black” season 3 premiered Thursday, Aug. 27 with all eight episodes. In the Top 10 list for Aug. 24 to 30, it ranked second among shows with 13.0 million views and 81.4 million hours viewed over four days. That is about 3.25 million views a day. Doing Life ran at about 3.1 million a day, roughly 5% lower, in one fewer day on the service. The larger hours total for “Beauty in Black” comes from its 6 hour, 17 minute runtime against 1 hour, 48 minutes for the film.
“Why Did I Get Married Again?” took a different path. Netflix’s Top 10 list for Sept. 7 to 13 put it first among films with 19.3 million views and 35.7 million hours viewed. The next week Netflix reported that it held No. 1 with 9.7 million views. Doing Life’s 9.3 million views in three days come within 0.4 million of that second full week.
The sequel to Perry’s 2007 and 2010 films, described by Netflix as streaming by Sept. 9, sends the friend group to Italy for a wedding, where secrets come out, including hidden romances and marriages that are less perfect than they appear. The film is also the 10th Tyler Perry movie on Netflix, according to the company’s Sept. 29 Tudum announcement. Perry, Taraji P. Henson, Jill Scott, Tasha Smith, Michael Jai White and Sharon Leal are among the cast.
Netflix lists it at 1 hour, 51 minutes and PG-13. Perry wrote and directed the film and plays Terry, Netflix’s cast list shows. Netflix called it a threequel in its weekly Top 10 report, which also credited the film for holding No. 1 a second week.
What Netflix Said About Perry’s Next Projects
Netflix said in a Tudum announcement on Sept. 29 that Perry’s next thriller is “Confabulation,” starring Lucien Laviscount, Taylour Paige and Shamier Anderson. Netflix described a troubled firefighter who becomes fixated on rescuing a woman he once loved from her powerful husband, and said his fractured memories collide with the present. The company has not given a release date and said other details are being kept under wraps.
On the series side, Netflix renewed “Beauty in Black” for a fourth season in a July 23 Tudum article, 35 days before season 3 premiered. Perry said in that announcement that the Bellarie family’s story is “far from finished.” Netflix has said season 4 details will come at a later date.
Netflix’s season 3 article said the new episodes follow Kimmie and Mallory after they take down several Bellarie enemies, while head of security Jules keeps pursuing the truth about his son’s death. Taylor Polidore Williams, who plays Kimmie, told Netflix the season is probably the most emotionally charged for her character.
How the Last Perry Film Faded
“Why Did I Get Married Again?” gives the closest guide to what comes after a Perry film opens. Its views fell from 19.3 million in the week of Sept. 7 to 9.7 million the next week, a 50% drop. In the week of Sept. 21 to 27 it had 3.1 million views and ranked eighth among films, down 68% from the week before.
Across those three weeks Netflix counted about 32.1 million views for the film. Doing Life’s first full week, Oct. 5 to 11, has not been posted yet. Netflix’s list for that week will show whether the film holds more of its audience than the sequel did.
