Jeff Goldblum’s KAOS Series Climbs Netflix Top 10 Charts

KAOS is anything but that, as the new Netflix series is quickly rising through the ranks of the streaming service’s top charts. The new show, which stars Jeff Goldblum as the eccentric, electrifying, and all-powerful Zeus, debuted last Thursday (August 29) and the modern-day take on Greek mythology has already climbed to second position on Netflix’s Global Top 10. For the week of August 26 through September 1, KAOS quickly accumulated 22.8 million hours viewed and 3.4 million views.

Surprisingly, during its first week of release, KAOS didn’t even crack the Top 10 in the United States. However, it does rank in fifth in the United Kingdom on Netflix’s Top 10 by Country charts. And ironically enough, the Goldblum-led episodic adventure ranks third in Greece’s Top 10, beaten by Emily in Paris Season 4 in the top spot. For those who aren’t familiar with KAOS, Goldblum described his character and what to expect from the show in a recent interview with Tudum (below):

“My character is complicated and charismatic, not to mention cruel.
Charlie Covell’s writing leapt off the page and struck my gizzard like a lightning bolt as something spectacularly smart, surprising, unexpected, profound, and deeply moving […]
It’s a magic carpet to disaster.”

Goldblum said in the same interview:

“[The wrinkle] is this triggering thing of, ‘Uh-oh, nature is a chicken that’s coming home to roost.’ The longer that [thought process] goes on, the worse it is.
It’s like hungry dogs — when they’re left unfed in the cellar, they just start barking louder and louder.
And when they’re finally let out, oh boy.”

Homework Isn’t Required to Enjoy KAOS

The new Netflix series has come a long way since it was originally announced in 2022 that Hugh Grant would portray Zeus in KAOS. The show, which updates Greek mythology for the here and now, particularly where Jeff Goldblum’s ruler and protector of the Gods and humans is concerned, doesn’t require any historical homework to enjoy. Showrunner Charlie Covell said in the same report:

“I never want people to feel they can’t watch the show unless they’ve done their homework,
because that’s just terrible and very kind of exclusionary.
But I would love for people who have read [the Greek myths] to be like, ‘Easter egg, Easter egg, Easter egg.’”

Covell also said:

“It [the inspiration for KAOS] was always a mash-up of stuff,
but the stories were always about
timeless things like love, and power, and death,
and dysfunctional families.
And it was always kind of funny in my head.”

Janet McTeer, who portrays Hera in KAOS, warns viewers that Zeus’ powers grow in exponentially frightening ways over the course of the eight-episode series. “The more you watch the series, hopefully the more scared you will get [smiles], because you realize his power and what he can do. And it’s just so fantastic.”