Netflix’s Epic New Western Rides Past 6 Million Views in Opening Week

Netflix's grand new limited series adaptation of John Steinbeck's "East of Eden" lived up to the hype, taking the number-one spot on the streamer's latest viewership report. The show stars Florence Pugh, Christopher Abbott, and Mike Faist in the lead roles, and is spearheaded by Zoe Kazan, whose grandfather, Elia Kazan, directed the landmark 1955 adaptation of Steinbeck's novel. The new East of Eden beat out holdover hits such as Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story and the second season of The Gentlemen, both of which have held top-10 spots on the global Netflix rankings for several weeks now. It remains to be seen if East of Eden can sustain interest in the long run, but it's certainly in a strong position, given the renewed interest that Westerns have seen in recent years.