Netflix Movies That Deserve Sequels (Based On Their Viewership)

Picture Credits: Netflix

Over the years, Netflix has released hundreds of movies, but not all stand the test of time. Below, we’re going to be looking through the Netflix Engagement Reports to find any trends for movies that stand the test of time and continue to pull in good viewership and deserve a sequel (or two).

Several titles in the latest engagement reports are getting sequels, with Extraction being an obvious one (it is getting two spin-offs plus a third movie installment). We also have the K-Pop Demon Hunters sequel scheduled for 2029, even if Netflix has yet to officially confirm the date. Leo is another great example of a sequel ordered that is currently in production.

A few themes will become clear throughout this article about our picks, so what are we looking for? We’re looking for movies that sustain viewership for an extended period, experience regular bumps, or demonstrate strong long-term watch time long after their initial debut. As we’ve covered before, Netflix movies tend to burn bright, then fade quickly and continue to decline over time. That shouldn’t be too surprising, given that most people find what to watch next on Netflix through the rows that appear when you first log in, and, by and large, those rows prioritize new releases.

What are the themes of movies that pull in consistent viewership? Most movies fall into buckets:

Seasonal movies like rom-coms, Christmas movies, and Halloween movies that get regular annual seasonal bursts of viewership
Big action movies with big stars that show up with high traffic searches
Kids and family titles (with a particular emphasis on animation) that have incredible long-tail viewership that demand repeat viewership throughout the year
and a few interesting titles that either rely on strong artwork or star power to drive views year-round.

Red Notice

Wait, I hear you cry, “Red Notice was already confirmed to get a second and third movie!” You’d be correct, but the question is, where are they? The latest we heard was rumors of a possible production start in late 2026, but beyond that, the fate of the sequels is very much up in the air. The movie remained the undisputed king of the English movie charts through 2025, despite criticism from some circles; it continues to be widely watched to this day. In fact, if you take the average, Red Notice between 2023 and 2025 averaged 147,000 views per day – incredible.

2023 H1 – 34.6M views
2023 H2 – 27.3M views
2024 H1 – 26.1M views
2024 H2 – 28.9M views
2025 H1 – 23.7M views
2025 H2 – 20.9M views

Spenser Confidential

Sticking with the action theme, Spenser Confidential continues to chunk in views no doubt because of Mark Wahlberg’s pull, which Netflix continues to take advantage of, given that he’s had multiple projects since and a couple lined up. A sequel was long-rumored for this movie, but where it is in development is unclear.

2023 H1 – 16.3M views
2023 H2 – 12.7M views
2024 H1 – 16.6M views
2024 H2 – 15.7M views
2025 H1 – 14.3M views
2025 H2 – 11.4M views

Back to the Outback

This list could be made up entirely of Netflix animated projects. While many don’t necessarily perform well out of the gate, they often go on to have real long-tail performance on the platform. Back to the Outback is a prime example of this, regularly averaging around 20 million views every six months.

Released in December 2021, the film follows a group of Aussie animals who escape from a zoo to regain their freedom in the Outback. The project came from Reel FX, which would go on to work on The Monkey King for Netflix; however, that film hasn’t had anywhere near the staying power of Back to the Outback. It is a strong candidate for a sequel or spin-off, especially since Zootopia continues to prove that animal-led animated movies are in high demand.

2023 H1 – 23.5M views
2023 H2 – 19.6M views
2024 H1 – 20.2M views
2024 H2 – 19.1M views
2025 H1 – 20.2M views
2025 H2 – 19.6M views

Wish Dragon

One of the several animated movies Netflix picked up from Sony Pictures throughout the pandemic was Wish Dragon, which continues to perform solidly every single year for Netflix (alongside many of the other titles released around this time, too). Once again, this is just animation doing what it does best on Netflix: being a consistent driver of viewership over time even if they didn’t launch to numbers like KPop Demon Hunters.

There is good news about this title. As we recently covered, a second movie is in the works, but it’s not currently tied to Netflix or Sony Pictures. Whether it ultimately returns to the streamer remains to be seen, but the original’s performance makes it a strong candidate for reacquisition.

We Can Be Heroes

We’ve been banging this drum for quite some time. We Can Be Heroes achieved unprecedented viewership at launch and dominated the daily top 10s for months, and to this very day, it still picks up 10s of millions of views every half a year despite now coming up to six years old. Released on Christmas Day 2020, the movie followed an alien invasion and superhero kids who have to learn and work together to defeat them and rescue their parents.

Netflix returned to work with Robert Rodriguez for Spy Kids: Armageddon, but it did not have the intended results and flopped spectacularly. The reason should be obvious: Spy Kids was originally made for a different generation, so it didn’t translate or mean anything. While We Can Be Heroes was set in the world of Spy Kids, it did well because it was fresh for a new generation. With that said, although it didn’t start strong, Spy Kids actually does chunk in good regular viewership.

Here’s a look at the Engagement Report numbers for We Can Be Heroes:

2023 H1 – 31.5M views
2023 H2 – 30.0M views
2024 H1 – 29.1M views
2024 H2 – 28.8M views
2025 H1 – 26.9M views
2025 H2 – 24.7M views

The Christmas Chronicles

The undisputed crown of Netflix Christmas movies still belongs to Kurt Russell, thanks to The Christmas Chronicles, which has incredible staying power on Netflix and dominates the top 10s every year once the festive season rolls around. Both the first and second movies typically have low viewership in the first half of the year, then see significant increases in the second half. The first movie still regularly manages to outperform brand-new holiday releases.

How The Christmas Chronicles performs each year:

2023 H1 – 4.0M views | 2023 H2 – 29.5M views
2024 H1 – 3.3M views | 2024 H2 – 32.2M views
2025 H1 – 3.4M views | 2025 H2 – 28.9M views

How The Christmas Chronicles: Part Two performs each year:

2023 H1 – 4.4M views | 2023 H2 – 22.3M views
2024 H1 – 3.8M views | 2024 H2 – 25.2M views
2025 H1 – 3.9M views | 2025 H2 – 22.1M views

That Christmas

So far, we’ve featured family movies, animated movies, and Christmas titles – so for this pick, guess what? We’re combining all three! Not every Christmas movie Netflix releases has long-term appeal but one that does appear to have stuck is 2024’s That Christmas from the British studio Locksmith Animation. In its launching period, it hit 60.1M and has continued to show strong seasonal resurgence.

2024 H2 – 60.1M views
2025 H1 – 11.4M views
2025 H2 – 33.0M views

Lindsay Lohan Movies

Falling For Christmas Lindsay Lohan Netflix Christmas

Netflix acquired three Lindsay Lohan movies in the early 2020s, and they continue to perform well. Falling for Christmas is undoubtedly the biggest, securing a big jump in viewership each time the holiday season rolls around. Interestingly, Irish Wish appears to be the exception to the rule, with viewership declining more gradually and at much lower levels. Lohan has expressed interest in moving away from Netflix rom-coms, so whether we ever get titles from her anymore remains to be seen – it all depends on how busy her phone is in the coming years elsewhere, we suspect.

Purple Hearts & Feel The Beat

Sofia Carson Feel The Beat Purple Hearts

We’re grouping these two movies together for one simple reason: Sofia Carson, whom we’ll continue to dub the ‘Queen of Netflix Movies.’ Years after their initial release, both films continue to attract strong repeat viewership on the platform throughout the year.

No doubt assisted by a healthy stream of other new movies featuring the actress, these two titles generate over 10 million views during most periods listed in the Engagement Reports. This suggests to us that, even though sequels aren’t actively announced (despite Purple Hearts 2 long being rumored), Netflix should: A) explore sequels, and B) keep working with Sofia Carson. Clearly, the streamer agrees with the latter.

Let’s break down the views of each movie beginning with Purple Hearts:

2023 H1 – 20.5M views
2023 H2 – 15.6M views
2024 H1 – 16.5M views
2024 H2 – 13.2M views
2025 H1 – 13.9M views
2025 H2 – 12.0M views

And Feel The Beat:

2023 H1 – 13.3M views
2023 H2 – 10.9M views
2024 H1 – 10.2M views
2024 H2 – 8.9M views
2025 H1 – 10.6M views
2025 H2 – 10.1M views

My Name Is Vendetta

On the international movie side, there’s very little to talk about. One of the most surprising titles I found whilst searching was this Italian crime thriller, released in the latter half of 2022. What’s most remarkable is that the movie maintained strong viewership throughout 2023, and while it dropped in the latter half of 2024, it has since picked up again.

Does this movie just get surfaced well within Netflix? We’ll never know, but given the very high viewership for a local-language title, it should be on the shortlist for a follow-up. Here’s a look at its viewership:

2023 H1 – 20.9M views
2023 H2 – 12.2M views
2024 H1 – 10.8M views
2024 H2 – 5.0M views
2025 H1 – 8.0M views
2025 H2 – 10.0M views

Sweet Girl and Lou

Here’s a couple of movies that I had to tap my memory hard for, as it’s been five years since this Jason Momoa and Isabela Merced thriller dropped, and around the same length of time for Lou. I believe these have a similar crossover with My Name is Vendetta in that their artwork all has the same kind of theme. A broody character in the foreground with a young character in the background. Is there anything about this artwork setup that would make the title more clickable? If that format/genre does work – maybe it’s time for sequels or more movies in this arena.

In the case of Sweet Girl, it’s also Jason Momoa’s first movie; if not a sequel, Netflix would be wise to tap him for future projects, as his name is still a big draw.

Lou Viewership

2023 H1 – 14.6M views
2023 H2 – 9.5M views
2024 H1 – 9.7M views
2024 H2 – 7.3M views
2025 H1 – 7.9M views
2025 H2 – 6.1M views

Sweet Girl Viewership

2023 H1 – 12.6M views
2023 H2 – 7.3M views
2024 H1 – 6.7M views
2024 H2 – 4.2M views
2025 H1 – 5.5M views
2025 H2 – 5.8M views

Other Callouts

No doubt buoyed by the fact that XO, Kitty sees regular new instalments, the To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before movies still pull in impressive viewership, and yes, they do get bumps every single time that a new season of the show drops. If XO, Kitty wanted to end, they could almost certainly revisit the films, given the viewership is definitely there.
In a similar vein, The Kissing Booth remains remarkably consistent in the Engagement Reports, but like TATBILB, it’s had three movies, so it does seem done for now.
The incredibly horny movie franchise 365 Days continues to pull in good viewership despite most people agreeing that it got even worse as new entries are released (and it was a low bar to begin with). If the streamer wanted to revisit this franchise with an international spin-off, it’s pretty clear that plenty of people will show up.
Christmas movies aren’t the only ones that get seasonal bumps. Adam Sandler’s Hubie Halloween gets a big jump every single year in the second half of the year.
Can you believe it’s been 8 years since Bird Box was released? It was huge at the time, and while it did get an international spin-off, the first movie does still pick up consistent viewership every half year, and when you consider the length of time passed, could it be finally time to get a sequel?