Nielsen Streaming Top 10: ‘Virgin River’ Breaks ‘Stranger Things’ No. 1 Streak, ‘The Gray Man’ at No. 3

BreAnna Bell During the Aug. 1 – Aug. 7 viewing window, Disney’s “Lightyear” soared to the No. 3 place on the Nielsen streaming programs chart, raking in 1.3 billion minutes viewed after its premiere on Disney+. The “Toy Story” spinoff scored No. 1 on the movies list, leading Netflix’s “Uncharted,” which premiered on Aug. 5 to 1 billion minutes watched. “The Sandman” broke into Nielsen’s Top 10 streaming rankings following its Aug. 5 release date at No. 4. In its first three days of availability, the fantasy drama based on Neil Gaiman’s comic book series, recorded 1.02 billion minutes viewed. The show followed the platform’s traditional playbook and released 10 episodes on its original release date, as well as a surprise bonus episode two weeks later on Aug. 19.

With five titles surpassing 1 billion minutes of streaming, the week of August 1 to 7 found a familiar champion on the Nielsen streaming chart: Stranger Things.

Jamie Campbell Bower has teased Vecna’s return in the final season of Stranger Things.The actor, who portrays season four’s key villain, Vecna, said in a new interview with NME that he expects the character to wreak more havoc when the Netflix sci-fi drama returns for its fifth season in 2024.At the end of season four, which aired earlier this summer, Vecna is defeated by Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown).“He’s pissed, he’s properly vexed,” Bower said of Vecna’s demise. “I don’t think he’s slunk off licking his wounds in misery.

Virgin River logged a second week as the most-streamed title in the U.S., according to Nielsen, and Stranger Things and The Gray Man also repeated in second and third place, respectively.

Puberty posed a problem for the creators of “Stranger Things”.

Ethan Shanfeld When “Stranger Things” first aired on Netflix in 2016, its main cast ranged from around 12 to 14 years old, matching the age of their seventh grade characters. But as it progressed, the series’ timeline moved slower than real life, and soon enough, the young actors were hitting puberty before their characters, creating a challenge for the show’s directors and producers. According to Noah Schnapp, who plays Will Byers on the hit sci-fi show, a producer approached him during an earlier season and asked if he could raise the pitch of his voice and change his posture to better emulate Will’s age. While Will is either 14 or 15 in Season 4 of “Stranger Things,” Schnapp is nearing 18.

How does Noah Schnapp spend his summer? When the young actor is not busy filming "Stranger Things," one of the most popular shows to ever hit Netflix, he is spending his time as a many teenagers do, working a summer job as a lifeguard.  Schnapp said it's a "just for fun thing." "I've kind of grown up with a normal life and normal friends and stuff outside of ‘Stranger Things,’ so it's kind of kept me grounded," Schnapp told Flaunt during an interview.  "Stranger Things" actor Noah Schnapp spends his summers working as a lifeguard.  ( Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for Netflix) A video on TikTok surfaced of Schnapp doing a little dance at his summer job while rocking his lifeguard outfit.The video traveled quickly throughout the platform.  In addition to the actor's summer job, he is furthering his education by studying business at The University of Pennsylvania. Schnapp plans on living in the dorms with the other incoming freshman.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Netflix is bringing “Heads Up!”, the charades game that originated on Ellen DeGeneres’ daytime talk show, into the Upside Down — and into the worlds of the streamer’s other original shows. The streamer is launching an exclusive version of the “Heads Up!” mobile game that will include 28 new decks from top Netflix series including “Stranger Things,” “Squid Game,” “Shadow and Bone,” “Bridgerton” and “Selling Sunset” as well as entertainment-themed decks in categories like rom-coms and true crime. Netflix launched its version of “Heads Up!” on Tuesday. Netflix’s edition of the game is available in English and 13 additional languages on Android and iOS devices, available to streaming subscribers for no additional cost.

Stranger Things season four footwear and apparel.The new drop, which will launch for Vans Family Members on August 23 before the general sale opens on August 26 – is a “head-to-toe” collection that follows Metallica’s recent ‘Hellfire Club’ collaboration with the Netflix series.Among the collection are: trainers that feature artwork of the Upside Down; the Hellfire Club, and Surfer Boy Pizza. Elsewhere, there’s a Hellfire Club denim jacket and some crossover t-shirts.“Friends don’t lie,” Vans said in a statement.

Virgin River unseated longtime streaming champ Stranger Things on Nielsen’s weekly U.S. chart, racking up more than 2.6 billion minutes of viewing from July 18 to 24.

EXCLUSIVE: Joe Keery is set to join Lily James and Willem Dafoe in the indie drama Finalmente L’alba (Finally Dawn) sources tell Deadline. Rachel Sennott and Rebecca Antonac are also on board with Saverio Constanzo directing the pic.

“The Gray Man” has notched a spot in the top five of Netflix’s all-time list of most popular films.According to Netflix’s Top 10 stats for the week of Aug. 8 through Aug. 14, the film netted 21.16 million viewing hours in its fourth week on the streamer, landing it in the No.

"Stranger Things" actress Millie Bobby Brown is a college student. Brown, 18, revealed she is an online student at Purdue University during a recent interview with Elle magazine. The "Enola Holmes" star is studying human services, according to the outlet.

Stranger Things actor Joe Keery has discussed the panicked reaction to ‘Protect Steve’ billboards used to promote the show’s fourth season.Ahead of season four’s final two episodes, released in July, Netflix debuted a number of billboards emblazoned with the words ‘Protect Steve’ surrounded by roots related to the overgrowth in the Upside Down.The marketing ploy caused many fans to fear for the safety of Keery’s character Steve Harrington in the final two episodes, something which amuses the actor today.“That was some very funny Netflix marketing,” laughs Keery to NME. “It’s pretty funny because they just freaked everybody out, but they knew how it ended!“It was like: ‘why are they saying this?’ Why are they doing this to everyone!”AT ALL COSTS!!! pic.twitter.com/qabjmpy0y1— Netflix (@netflix) June 29, 2022The actor however missed most of the anguish due to his absence from social media.

Stranger Things season five might not feature any new characters, the show’s creators, Matt and Ross Duffer, have said.The next series of the hit Netflix show will be its last, but it could steer away from each new season’s traditional introduction of new figures.Season four introduced the likes of Eddie Munson (played by Joseph Quinn), Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower) and Argyle (Eduardo Franco), while previous seasons have seen the likes of Max (Sadie Sink) and Robin (Maya Hawke) be added to the cast.Speaking to IndieWire, Ross Duffer said: “Whenever we introduce a new character, we want to make sure that they’re going to be an integral part of the narrative. But every time we do that, we’re nervous because you go, ‘We’ve got a great cast of characters here and actors, and any moment we’re spending with a new character, we’re taking time away from one of the other actors.’ So we’re just very, very careful about who we’re introducing.”Matt added: “I just like shaking it up, so we shake it up by changing the plot or adding in a new monster.

Netflix’s first week of streaming its original series Resident Evil, based on the video game franchise, finished fourth overall in the Nielsen streaming rankings, the measurement service said Thursday in reporting data for the week of July 11-17.

Selome Hailu Per Nielsen, “Stranger Things” was watched for 2.9 billion minutes during the July 11-17 viewing window, which marked the second full week of availability of Season 4 after its second volume debuted on July 1. The series easily took the No. 1 position on Nielsen’s streaming rankings for the week, with more than double the viewership of the next title on the chart: Netflix’s animated children’s film “The Sea Beast,” which debuted on the streamer on July 8 and was watched for 920 million minutes in its first full week of availability.

With “Stranger Things” coming to an end with a fifth and final season, the cast auditions — which took place in 2015 — have been released.