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It's not that surprising that Venom: Let There Be Carnage is doing some impressive streaming numbers right now. Not only does the brand-new Venom: The Last Dance hit theaters on the day I'm writing this, but it's also just a few days before Halloween 2024, which means you're going to see more monster media on your favorite streaming platform. But despite the recent successful spread of Carnage to US Netflix subscribers, he isn't technically the most popular bloodlusted extraterrestrial that the streamer has to offer. Let us explain.

First, let's talk stats - Venom: Let There Be Carnage has been in the Netflix Top 10 for roughly two weeks, coming in at about 8.9M views since October 7. Interestingly, the 2021 Venom sequel has been on the streaming platform for some time as a result of the Sony/Netflix deal, but is apparently picking up due to Venom fans doing their homework ahead of film 3. Impressive as that is, however, there's another franchise entry with a titular alien monster that's been outpacing our symbiote sidekicks - that is, The Predator.

2018's The Predator is not what you'd call a smashing success. Though it grossed $160M worldwide compared to its $88M budget (via BoxOffice Mojo), the movie was panned by both pros and amateurs alike, holding a respective 34% and 32% on Rotten Tomatoes' critic and audience scores, respectively. But that didn't stop it from debuting as the #2 film when it came to Netflix October 8, landing 18.1M views since its inclusion on the platform. And despite the Eddie Brock refresher currently playing at your local theater, Carnage couldn't win this contest of alien vs. Predator, with the former staying well below the latter's place on the Top 10 list.

The thing is, though, the Predator's time on Netflix could be a lot shorter-lived than the villains of the Venom trilogy. Ever since Disney's acquisition of Fox, and the explosive success of the latest straight-to-streaming Predator sequel Prey, the monsters that first inspired us to GET TO DA CHOPPA are more likely to be Hulu and Disney+ exclusives by the day, whereas the Sony/Netflix deal lasts until at least 2026, perhaps further if the latest film finally gets the roughly-started Sonyverse on its feet.

So take this win while it lasts, Predator. You never know which Halloween on Netflix will be your last.

Venom: The Last Dance is in theaters now. 

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