‘Carrie’ Tops The Streaming Chart With 1.26 Billion Minutes — And Already Has A Season 2

Prime Video’s Carrie was the most-watched streaming title in the United States in its first week, drawing 1.26 billion minutes viewed to top Nielsen’s chart for the week of October 5–11 — and the series has already been renewed for a second season.

The eight-episode series premiered on Wednesday, October 7, so Nielsen’s total covers only its first five days on the service. It finished ahead of Netflix’s Below, which debuted on October 8 and drew 1.19 billion minutes, and the limited series East of Eden, third with 1.16 billion minutes. Nielsen’s figures count viewing on television sets in the United States.

Adults 18 to 49 accounted for 58 percent of Carrie’s viewing, according to Nielsen’s report. The premiere is the second-biggest debut this year for a first-season Prime Video series in Nielsen’s Top 10, behind only the Reacher spinoff Neagley at 1.8 billion minutes, and ahead of Scarpetta (952 million), Ride or Die (869 million) and Spider-Noir (852 million). It was also Prime Video’s sixth No. 1 overall finish in eight weeks; Reacher accounted for the other five. Amazon MGM Studios said the series also reached No. 1 on Prime Video in more than 105 countries.

Carrie adapts Stephen King’s 1974 debut novel, moved to the present day. Summer H. Howell plays Carrie White, a sheltered teenager raised by her intensely religious mother, Margaret, played by Samantha Sloyan. After her father’s sudden death, Carrie enters public high school for the first time, where a viral bullying scandal, the pressures of social media and her own emerging telekinetic powers close in on her. The cast also includes Siena Agudong, Alison Thornton, Thalia Dudek, Amber Midthunder, Matthew Lillard and Kate Siegel.

Prime Video announced the second season on Thursday, about two weeks after the premiere — a fast order that follows from the ending. The first season departs from King’s novel, in which Carrie dies; the series instead closes with Carrie surviving and leaving town in the passenger seat of her friend Emaline’s car, her destination unknown. The second season will take the story past the end of the book for the first time in the character’s fifty years on screen and in print.

Mike Flanagan, the showrunner and executive producer, said the continuation was the plan from the start. “For 50 years, audiences have known and gravitated to Carrie White’s story,” he said in a statement. “From the beginning, we imagined a story that goes far beyond the prom, and I’m incredibly grateful for Stephen’s trust and support in exploring what comes next.” Flanagan wrote the series and directed four of the first season’s episodes, including the premiere and the finale.

King, who serves as an executive producer, endorsed the next chapter in the same announcement. “I can’t wait for audiences to get to see what’s down the road for Carrie White,” he said. “Mike Flanagan and I are excited about what comes next. It’s bound to be thrilling.”

Peter Friedlander, head of global television at Amazon MGM Studios, said the series “is connecting with both longtime Stephen King fans and a new generation altogether — including young adults and international audiences, with particular strength among female viewers,” and added: “We’re excited by where he and Stephen plan to take the story.”

Before the premiere, Flanagan told Collider that his ideal version of the story runs three seasons, describing the full arc as “a trilogy, really.” Only the second season has been ordered. No premiere date for it has been announced.

Sources: Nielsen streaming data for the week of October 5–11, as reported by TheWrap; Variety; Amazon MGM Studios.