What made a Hollywood legend trade the big screen for six relentless hours he likened to swimming the English Channel? And why did viewers swarm it the moment it hit Netflix?
A 60-second cyber blackout leaves a body count, and a former U.S. President is forced into investigator mode. Netflix’s six-part Día cero has drawn 70.6 million views since its February 20, 2025 release, turning a high-stakes premise into a breakout hit. Robert De Niro anchors the series with Jesse Plemons and Lizzy Caplan, from creators Eric Newman, Noah Oppenheim, and Michael Schmidt. De Niro has likened the shoot to making three films and a frigid channel crossing, a fitting metaphor for the show’s relentless pace.
A record-breaking Netflix miniseries
Some series ask for months of your time. Others hit hard, say what they need to say, and leave you buzzing. That is the case with Zero Day, the 6-episode thriller that surged on Netflix after its US debut on February 20, 2025. Since then, it has stacked up a striking 70.6 million views, a reminder that a tight, urgent story still travels fast.
Robert De Niro leads a stellar cast
At the center is Robert De Niro, playing a former US president pulled back into crisis. He delivers quiet steel and audible fatigue, the sort that builds across decades in the public eye. He is joined by Jesse Plemons and Lizzy Caplan, a pairing that sharpens the show’s moral edges. Behind the camera, Eric Newman, Noah Oppenheim, and Michael S. Schmidt steer the ship (they created the series).
A chilling 60 seconds, and the fallout
The premise is as tight as a countdown. A coordinated cyberattack freezes core US systems for 60 seconds, and the aftermath is catastrophic. Power grids, networks, everyday lifelines stall just long enough to tilt lives off course. Episodes run lean and pointed (roughly 43 to 58 minutes), tracing an investigation that keeps widening, from personal reckonings to the vulnerabilities inside national infrastructure.
Why the numbers add up
Momentum comes from craft and timing. The miniseries format gives the story a clean arc, then hands viewers a landing. That discipline shows up in the data: the series has logged 363.6 million hours viewed (a mark that places it among Netflix’s most-watched recent originals). De Niro has called the shoot “like doing three movies in a row,” comparing it to a long-distance swim where the only option is forward.
