Thursday Murder Club has already slipped down Netflix’s trending chart – here’s what that means for the sequel

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So, I finished watching *The Thursday Murder Club* on Netflix a few weeks ago, and now I’m totally on the edge of my seat waiting to see if they’re going to make a sequel! There are already four – soon to be five – books in the series by Richard Osman, and they’re huge, so it felt like a movie sequel was pretty much guaranteed, even though the reviews were a bit all over the place.

Everyone expected the movie to be as popular as the books it was based on. However, it’s still uncertain if *The Thursday Murder Club* film has actually achieved that level of success.

After three weeks, the movie has dropped to number five on Netflix’s list of most popular films, garnering 7.1 million views. This represents a significant decline – over 60% – from last week’s numbers. Even in the UK, where it was expected to perform well, it’s currently only the sixth most-watched movie.

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It’s normal for Netflix viewership to go down over time, as people always have new movies and shows to choose from. Unless something truly unique like *KPop Demon Hunters* comes along, viewers will naturally move on to other options.

The film *The Thursday Murder Club* got off to a strong start, racking up 24.7 million views in its first four days. While it didn’t quite reach the number one spot globally, it faced tough competition from the release of a sing-along version of *KPop Demon Hunters*. Viewership numbers for both versions of *KPop Demon Hunters* were combined, making it a difficult comparison.

It’s concerning that *The Thursday Murder Club* saw its viewership drop to 18.7 million during its first full week. This indicates that while book fans quickly tuned in, the movie didn’t attract enough of a broader audience to maintain strong numbers over time. As of September 14th, the movie has reached a total of 50.5 million viewers.

So, does this mean we need to be concerned about whether Netflix will greenlight a follow-up? Not exactly.

It’s difficult to know exactly what Netflix looks for when deciding whether to make a sequel to a film. For example, even though *Red Notice* was recently Netflix’s most popular movie, we haven’t heard anything about a second one after four years, which is puzzling.

Netflix doesn’t always announce sequels right away. While some, like *Kissing Booth 3*, were filmed in secret, others, such as *Enola Holmes 2*, took eight months to get confirmed, even though the first movie was a big hit.

If the actors are willing to participate – and it seems they are – the delay is likely due to scheduling conflicts, such as Helen Mirren and Pierce Brosnan already having other projects lined up.

Before the first movie came out, director Chris Columbus expressed optimism about a potential sequel. He told *Film Stories* that everything suggested they were heading that way. In a separate interview with *PA*, he explained they’d have a good idea within ten days of the release – based on how well it did during its opening weekend – whether a second film would happen.

The viewership numbers are decent, but don’t clearly explain the current situation, particularly considering the strong negative reaction from fans to the first film. Looking back, the critics’ score of 77% on Rotten Tomatoes now seems quite positive compared to the 53% rating from general audiences.

The main problem is the way the movie altered the story of Bogdan, a change we pointed out would create difficulties for any follow-up films. This seems to have affected how people talked about the movie, and ultimately, its viewership. If even dedicated fans disliked the change, it’s hard to see how the movie will attract new viewers or bring those original fans back for a sequel.

While not a massive hit, 50.5 million views isn’t bad for a smaller Netflix film. For comparison, *The Electric State*, which had a much larger budget – likely at least three times higher – reached 55.3 million views in the same timeframe.

I’m really hoping we get a sequel! It feels like everything’s already set to go, and Netflix is probably just holding off on the announcement to make a bigger splash. I’m guessing they might time it with the release of Richard Osman’s new *Thursday Murder Club* book on September 25th – that would be perfect!

Or the moment we hit publish on this story, just to show us right up.

The Thursday Murder Club is available to watch now on Netflix.

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2025-09-17 17:21