Netflix’s new #1 movie destroys Disney at its own game by putting a murderous spin on reimagining classic fairy tales

Disney’s constant production line of reimagined fairy tales has long since started to grow repetitive, so you can imagine there’s going to be widespread smugness in the Netflix boardroom after Once Upon a Crime debuted as the platform’s number one most-watched movie around the world.

Regardless of whether or not you enjoyed or abhorred The Little Mermaid for reasons that are strictly to do with what happens onscreen, the likes of Peter Pan & Wendy, Tom Hanks’ Pinocchio, Lady and the Tramp, Mulan, and Maleficent: Mistress of Evil to name just a handful to have landed in the last four years alone have ranged from the underwhelming to the outright interminable.

Meanwhile, Netflix decided that it would be a worthwhile punt to okay a murder mystery that finds Little Red Riding Hood becoming a detective and partnering up with Cinderella to unravel a string of suspicious deaths in a fantastical kingdom. People love the streaming service’s splashiest new originals, they’re always partial to a whodunit, and the mere hint of a potential serial killer is enough to cause salivation, with Once Upon a Crime responding in kind.

Per FlixPatrol, the whimsical tale of death in a land far, far away has cracked the Top 10 in 80 countries globally to arrive at the very summit of the worldwide charts. Just when you thought the buzz for these sorts of stories was beginning to fade after a decade of dominance, along comes Netflix to give it a shot in the arm thanks to an eye-catching premise that’s already worked a treat.