'Wednesday' Beats 'Stranger Things' With Impressive Debut Week

Netflix's "Wednesday" is off to a promising start, breaking a new record only a week after its release.

Tim Burton's "Addams Family" spin-off, which stars Mexican-Puerto Rican actress Jenna Ortega in the titular role, has become a hit since launching on the streaming platform on Nov. 23. The comedy-horror series racked up a total of 341.2 million hours of viewing worldwide last week, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

It beat "Stranger Things 4's" record of 335 million hours for the week of May 30 to June 5, which was the biggest opening date for an English-language series on the platform before "Wednesday."

"Wednesday" grabbed the No. 1 spot in 83 countries in its first week, tying with the fourth season of the Duffer brothers' sci-fi horror series, which stars Millie Bobby Brown (Eleven), Finn Wolfhard (Mike Wheeler), Noah Schnapp (Will Byers), Caleb McLaughlin (Lucas Sinclair) and Sadie Sink (Max Mayfield).

Netflix estimated that over 50 million households worldwide tuned in to watch at least part of the series, dividing the total viewing hours by the series' six-hour run, THR noted.

South Korean drama "Squid Game" still holds the all-time record for viewing hours in a week as it racked up a staggering 571.76 million hours viewed from Sept. 27 to Oct. 3 of last year. The global smash hit also had two other weeks that recorded more than 400 million hours. Within 28 days, the series reached 1.65 billion hours of viewing worldwide.

"Wednesday" was first announced in February 2021. It stars Catherine Zeta-Jones, Luis Guzmán and former Wednesday Addams actress Christina Ricci, who played the role in the original "Addams Family" movie in 1991. In addition to Ortega, several other new faces were introduced, including Isaac Ordonez, Emma Myers, Hunter Doohan and Percy Hynes White.

The eight-episode series' showrunners include Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, who executive produced along with Burton, 1.21 Entertainment's Steve Stark and Andrew Mittman, Tee and Charles Addams Foundation's Kevin Miserocchi, and Glickmania's Kayla Alpert and Jonathan Glickman. They were joined by Gail Berman, Tommy Harper and Kevin Lafferty.

Netflix has yet to announce whether or not "Wednesday" will be renewed for a second season, but its impressive debut has gotten viewers anticipating more.

"Wednesday was so good. I can't wait until Season 2," one user wrote of the show via Twitter.

Another commented, "Just finished #wednesdaynetflix, y'all know I hate sequels and spin-offs no one asked for...I severely underestimated 'Wednesday.' It exceeded all of my expectations and was a fun ride all the way through! Bring on Season 2!"

"'Wednesday' Season 2 has to come out [right now]," a third user wrote.

Showrunners Gough and Millar teased plans for a potential second season. If the show gets another installment, they said it may focus on Wednesday's growth as a teen.

"The series is really about a girl who sees the world in black and white, and learning there are shades of gray," Gough told TVLine, "I think like any relationship or any friendship, it can get complicated by other factors. It's never going to be smooth sailing. And it's really her learning to navigate the ups and downs of friendship."

"We felt like we just touched the surface with those characters and the actors are so amazing in those roles," Millar told the outlet.

"Catherine is, I think, an iconic Morticia. The relationship between Wednesday and Morticia is also essential to the show, and the idea that Wednesday is trying to forge her own path outside the family is important," the showrunner shared, before adding that they "really want to focus the show on Wednesday" while still featuring the rest of the Addams family.