Barbenheimer, Bollywood & lots of Netflix: these are the most searched for films & series on Google in 2023

Like every year, Google announced in 2023 which topics and terms were most searched for in the past 12 months. As a film and series site, we naturally concentrate on these two areas: We could have blindly guessed that ‘Barbenheimer’ – THE cinema phenomenon of the year – is also dominant in the annual Google search trends. But there are also a few surprises!

“Barbie” is number 1 on the annual cinema charts, both worldwide and in Germany, while “Oppenheimer” is number 3. The two blockbusters, which are fundamentally different yet combined into the pop culture phenomenon “Barbenheimer” due to their common opening day, are separated by “Der Super Mario Bros. Film”, which, however, does not appear in the German or global top 10 of most searched films. So it seems like almost everyone saw the video game adaptation, but no one had any questions about it!

In contrast to this, “Sound of freedom“, about which there were of course many, many questions: Although interest in the theatrical release was limited in Germany, especially in the US, apart from ‘Barbenheimer’, virtually no other film was discussed more than the human trafficking thriller, which was especially popular with right-wing forces such as the conspiracy network QAnon. became a controversial surprise success.

Oscar winner, German cinema – and no Marvel in sight

Otherwise, both top 10 lists reflect a general cinema trend: While there are still MCU productions on the cinema charts with “Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3” or “Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania”. superhero cinema, which has dominated the box office for over a decade, has noticeably declined in 2023. And so, not a Marvel or DC film is represented in either of the two top 10 lists, not even the critically acclaimed ‘Spider Man: About the Spider-Verse“.

This year’s Oscars have made their mark in particular in the form of the seven-time Academy Award winner ‘Everything Everywhere All At Once’, which was released in cinemas in Germany in April 2022 but still appears in both lists. With ‘Nothing New in the West’, ‘Sun and Concrete’ and ‘Luise’, three German films are also represented in the 10 most searched for films in Germany, with the latter in particular catching the eye: after all, director Matthias Luthardt’s room is whimsical drama wasn’t exactly a box office hit!

The solution probably lies in the case of the 12-year-old girl Luise, who was murdered by two girls of the same age. Both the crime and the court’s decision not to bring the perpetrators to justice because they had not yet reached the age at which they could be held criminally liable attracted a lot of media attention – and so there is a good chance that the film of the same name ended up in the top 10. as a result. .

Three (!) Indian productions have reached the top 10 worldwidewhich in turn correlates with the fact that films from Bollywood, Tollywood & Co. are also becoming increasingly popular worldwide outside their country of origin.

Netflix dominates overall, but other series are at the top!

When it comes to series, a ZDF production trumps all streaming hits from Netflix or Amazon Prime Video this time: No series was as popular in Germany as ‘Yesterday we were children’, a six-part miniseries that tells about the violent break-up of a so-called picture book family after father Peter kills his wife. What is the future for the children – and how can this come about?

The Netflix hit ‘Wednesday’, which launched in November 2022, ranks second on both lists, probably because fans are now desperately waiting for a second season and literally soaking up every bit of information about it. Speaking of Netflix: What is also striking is the extremely good performance of “Ginny & Georgia“ – Sarah Lampert’s youth series was a great success, but it is surprising that in terms of searches in this country it even surpasses the post-apocalyptic HBO hit ‘The Last Of Us’, which is undefeated at number 1 worldwide!

Otherwise, there is relatively little overlap between the most searched for series in Germany and the most searched for series worldwide. In addition to ‘The Last Of Us’, ‘Wednesday’ and ‘Ginny & Georgia’, there is only one constant: the real-life manga adaptation ‘One Piece’, which became an international mega-success on Netflix in 2023. .

Here we have the lists again in detail for you:

The 10 most wanted films in Germany 2023:

1. “Oppenheimer“
2. “Barbie“
3. “Avatar 2: The Way of the Water”
4. “John Wick: Chapter 4”
5. “nothing new in the West“
6. “Sun and concrete“
7. “Creed III: Rocky’s Legacy”
8. “Everything everywhere at once“
9. “Almost X”
10. “Luise“

The 10 most searched for films worldwide in 2023:

1. “Barbie“
2. “Oppenheimer“
3. “Jawan”
4. “Sound of freedom“
5. “John Wick: Chapter 4“
6. “Avatar 2: The Way of Water“
7. “Everything everywhere at once“
8. “Gadar 2”
9. “Creed III: Rocky’s Legacy“
10. “Pathan”

The 10 most sought-after series in Germany in 2023:

1. “Yesterday we were children“
2. “Wednesday“
3. “A piece“
4. “The Swarm”
5. “Ginny & Georgia“
6. “The last of us“
7. “The Witcher”
8. “Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story”
9. “Outdoor benches”
10. “Sweet Child”

The 10 most sought-after series worldwide in 2023:

1. “The last of us“
2. “Wednesday“
3. “Ginny & Georgia“
4. “A piece“
5. “Kaleidoscope”
6. “King the Country”
7. “The Glory”
8. “That ’90s Show”
9. “The Fall of the House of Usher”
10. “Shadow and Bone – Legends of Grisha”

By the way: Film and series references can also be found in other search categories. The list of most searched memes includes ‘The Last Of Us’ star Pedro Pascal, long-running humor favorite Kevin James (‘King Of Queens’), and of course ‘Barbenheimer’ – and in 9th place is a “disappointed Cillian” Murphy”!