Sony Pictures Animations' The Mitchells vs. the Machines has turned into Netflix's most popular animated film to date. According to the streamer, a whopping 53 million subscriber households took the road trip with the family in the sci-fi comedy in just a matter of 28 days.
The film did wonders for Netflix, beating out previous popular animated films such as Sony Pictures Imageworks' 48 million Over The Moon and Netflix's first-party feel-good feature, The Willoughbys, which net 38 million subscriber households watching it in that same timeframe.
The film reached critical acclaim and had released in select theaters in late April. Initially, The Mithcells vs. the Machines was slated to be a regular film releasing to the theaters under the name Connected, but the pandemic halted theater viability and Sony shifted to bringing it to a streaming service. The film's limited theater run then followed Netflix subscribers ability to stream it.
The film was written and directed by Mike Rianda and co-directed by Jeff Rowe, both of which had roles in the Disney XD series, Gravity Falls. Phil Lord and Chris Miller of LEGO Movie and Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse fame acted as its executive producers. The film even had a star-sudded voice cast including the likes of Danny McBride, Abbi Jacobson, Maya Rudolph, Eric André, Olivia Colman, and more.