Netflix has announced how many people have watched Martin Scorsese's The Irishman. The streaming network said on Twitter that some 26.4 million accounts globally viewed the very long movie within its first seven days. Anyone who watches 70 percent of a movie is counted as viewer.

Netflix programming boss Ted Sarandos said during a speaking event this week that he expects The Irishman to climb to 40 million views over its first 28 days, according to Variety. The movie came to Netflix on November 27 following a limited run in theatres.

By Netflix's latest count, the streamer has 60.6 million paying subscribers in the US and 158.3 million worldwide.

Sarandos said the viewership achievement for The Irishman is especially notable because the movie is so long--it clocks in at around 3.5 hours. "People still choose a relationship with a film… They sit down to watch a three-and-a-half-hour movie," he said.

Sarandos added that people are praising Netflix for funding The Irishman, which reportedly had a $175 million budget, but he doesn't see the movie as much of a risk. "Betting that Martin Scorsese is going to make a great mob movie with Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci and Al Pacino doesn't seem like a long shot," he said.

Netflix does not release viewership numbers for all of its shows, so comparisons are difficult. The company did, however, previously share that the Sandra Bullock movie Bird Box was seen by 45 million accounts globally in its first week and 80 million over its first four weeks.

GameSpot's review of The Irishman scored it a 9/10. "It feels like a career summation, a mature and dignified work that could only be made by an older filmmaker able to look back on his life and his work. And while Frank Sheeran is left as an old man filled only with shame and regret, Scorsese proves that his powers as a filmmaker remain at full strength," reviewer Dan Auty said.