Picture Credit: Netflix
It’s been almost four years since we last saw Millie Bobby Brown donning her Victorian sleuthing gear, but the wait is finally over. Released globally on Netflix this past Wednesday for the big July 4th weekend, Enola Holmes 3 brought one of the streamer’s most successful film franchises back to our screens for a massive summer tentpole event.
Directed this time by Philip Barantini and penned by Jack Thorne, the third installment takes the franchise out of the dreary streets of London and into the sun-drenched Mediterranean. As fans of the Nancy Springer book series know, Enola is always up for a twist, and this movie delivers a big one. With Enola and Lord Tewkesbury (Louis Partridge) heading to Malta for their wedding, the festivities are cut short when Sherlock (Henry Cavill) is mysteriously kidnapped. With returning favorites like Helena Bonham Carter and Susan Wokoma alongside a slew of new international antagonists, the stakes have never been higher for the young detective.
But while the on-screen mystery is solved, the behind-the-scenes mystery remains: did Enola Holmes 3 pull in the blockbuster viewership numbers Netflix was hoping for? Let’s dive into the data.
Per Netflix, here’s how they describe (with two bylines!) the debut:
“Enola Holmes 3 sent out an open invitation to a detective’s wedding in Malta, and so far, viewers have RSVP’d in droves. Millie Bobby Brown’s adventure-centric threequel, which debuted at the top of the English film list with 20.7 million views, sees the titular gumshoe preparing to wed Lord Tewkesbury (Louis Partridge), only to learn that her brother Sherlock (Henry Cavill) has been kidnapped. Enola immediately jumps on the case — all while uncovering complex truths about the historical period she inhabits.”
The first movie notably falls outside the range of our top 10 data, which didn’t kick in until mid-2021, but how well is it doing compared to the second? Enola Holmes 2, released on November 4th, 2022, debuted with 29.3M views, so at first glance, a 20.7M debut means views are down 29%.
But wait, there’s a catch. Enola Holmes 2 was released on a Friday, meaning its 29.3M views were achieved in just three days. Enola Holmes 3 was released on a Wednesday, giving it a full five-day runway to hit that 20.7M mark. When you break it down by daily averages (roughly 9.8M views per day for the sequel versus just 4.1M views per day for this new entry), the drop is actually a much steeper 58%. If we were talking about a series, that’d be a pretty standard decay rate, but a top-flight movie sequel that’s come out nearly 4 years after the second with a much higher subscriber base? That’s definitely concerning.
Here’s what the trajectory will need to look like in the coming weeks if Enola Holmes 3 wants to eclipse its predecessor. We are already seeing some decay in the daily top 10s (see that data here), so we’ll keep a close eye on it in the weeks to come.
Also interestingly, none of the original two movies popped up in the global movies list this week, although the second movie has re-appeared (via FlixPatrol) in 33 regions’ daily top 10s over the past week, and the OG is doing even better, re-appearing in 37 regions.
How does Enola Holmes 3 Stack Up Against 2026 Releases?
As far as 2026 releases go, the movie is stacking up amongst the middle of the pack, which is especially troubling when you remember it had a five-day head start compared to the usual three-day Friday releases. It sits just beneath the 20.9M views Office Romance opened with, and above the 17.5M Voicemails for Isabelle launched with but obviously they had less time to fetch those numbers.
Once again, with the caveat that Enola Holmes 3 had an extra two days to pick up viewership over the July 4th weekend, here’s how it stacks up against other Millie Bobby Brown titles and a few other genre titles.
Will Enola Holmes 3 enter the Most Popular All-Time Top 10?
In short: almost certainly not without a miracle.
With a 20.7M views opening over five days, it’s incredibly unlikely the movie will have the legs to reach the 139.3M+ views required to break into the Most Popular English Films list within its 91-day premiere window.
While it’s undoubtedly a solid weekend for Netflix, it does suggest the peak of the franchise’s viewership might be in the rearview mirror. The big question now is whether Netflix will push forward with an Enola Holmes 4. Given Millie Bobby Brown’s expansive first-look deal with Netflix via her PCMA Productions banner, we’ll undoubtedly be seeing plenty more of her on the platform, but whether she’ll don the Victorian detective gear again remains to be seen.
Did you check out Enola Holmes 3 on Netflix over the weekend? Do you think the viewership numbers will bounce back in week 2, or is franchise fatigue setting in? Let us know in the comments down below.
