Netflix has released some huge movies throughout 2026, but only a select handful hold a place among its most-watched originals of the year. For as much attention as previously released films, both big and small, can garner on the streaming service, those acquisition deals are just a portion of Netflix’s focus. How well their exclusive titles perform is what really matters.
These movies are routinely the ones that top Netflix’s streaming charts in the United States and across the world. And when they really click with subscribers, record-setting viewership comes. The streamer has experienced that a lot recently, with KPop Demon Hunters becoming Netflix’s most-watched movie of all time last year. 2025 even saw Jamie Foxx and Cameron Diaz’s Back in Action become a top 10 all-time release.
That is why Netflix’s original 2026 movies often came with lofty viewership expectations. With popular genres like action, thrillers, rom-coms, and animation and typically star-studded casts frequently part of its new releases, Netflix has a clear strategy to greenlighting or acquiring new movies with the hopes that they’ll pop with audiences.
Rearrange the movies into the correct US release order.
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This has happened time and time again in 2026, and thanks to official viewership data, here are Netflix’s most-watched original movies this year.
10
Animals
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Image credit: Warrick Page/© Netflix/Courtesy Everett Collection</figure>
Ben Affleck has two of Netflix’s biggest 2026 movies thanks to Animals. His original crime thriller hit the streamer on October 9 and immediately dominated subscribers’ attention. Animals has 65.3 million hours watched after three weeks, officially moving it into the top 10.
The viewership breakdown is 23.8 million, 30.8 million, and 10.7 million views in the first three weeks. Animals was the No. 1 movie on Netflix worldwide each week. That ties it with Affleck’s other 2026 Netflix movie, The Rip, for the longest streak of No. 1 finishes in the weekly top 10 charts. How much longer it can stay in the charts will determine if it climbs any higher.
9
72 Hours
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Kevin Hart has given Netflix another streaming hit with 72 Hours. The comedy debuted on the service in July and moved into the top 10 chart for the year after only three weeks. Hart’s movie earned 72 million views across its first six weeks of release.
It had a top-10 debut week for a 2026 Netflix original at 22.1 million views. It stayed at No. 1 for two weeks after receiving another 25.1 million views in week 2. 72 Hours officially became one of Netflix’s most-watched 2026 movies after its week 3 viewership of 11.1 million views. It’s the biggest pure comedy for the service this year so far.
8
The Last House
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Netflix found a summer success by going to sci-fi horror with The Last House. After an August 7 premiere, it has already earned 82.1 million views across five weeks. The movie sat at the top of Netflix’s weekly streaming charts for its first two weeks. It then suffered a sizable drop in viewership in week 3 but stayed at No. 2 overall for the week.
The Last House debuted to 27.5 million views, which is the fifth-biggest launch for any of Netflix’s 2026 original movies. Over its second week of release, the movie drew 33.5 million views, which is the sixth-biggest performance of the year. Of those movies with a greater week 2 performance, only one had a higher increase than The Last House‘s 21.82% growth.
7
The Whisper Man
Robert De Niro and Adam Scott have powered Netflix to another global hit in 2026. Their crime thriller The Whisper Man accumulated 82.2 million views in its first six weeks, firmly putting it in the top 10 for the year.
The Whisper Man started strong with 23.2 million views in week 1. It then had a notable jump to 33.4 million views in week 2, putting it atop Netflix’s worldwide charts for the first time. Even though it fell to No. 2 in weeks 3 and 4, the 12.7 million and 6.2 million views it pulled in during those stretches are the sixth-most for a Netflix 2026 original movie.
6
Voicemails For Isabelle
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Zoey Deutch and Nick Robinson’s rom-com has charmed Netflix subscribers with ease. Voicemails for Isabelle has generated 84.3 million views in its first six weeks of release, making it the streamer’s biggest hit in this genre for the year.
After a solid 17.5 million views in its first week, Voicemails for Isabelle jumped to 31 million views in week 2 and 13.3 million views in week 3. That’s significantly higher than the year’s other rom-coms. It stayed in the top 5 in the weekly charts for its first seven weeks, setting a new Netflix rom-com record, but then it fell out of the top 10.
5
Thrash
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Credit: Ben King / © Netflix / Courtesy Everett Collection</figure>
Netflix delivered a release tailored for its audience with Thrash, a shark-infested disaster movie headlined by Bridgerton star Phoebe Dynevor. It’s no surprise, then, that the film caught the attention of millions of subscribers. After four weeks in the top 10, Thrash collected 85.7 million views. More views surely came after that, but they have not been reported by Netflix.
The disaster thriller received the bulk of this viewership over its first 10 days of release. Thrash earned 37.3 million views in its opening weekend and then devoured another 34.5 million views over week 2. It remained as the #1 global movie on Netflix during the entire stretch. And despite still being in the top 5 weekly charts through week 4, it fell out of the top 10 entirely after that.
4
The Rip
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Ben Affleck and Matt Damon’s crime thriller came to Netflix with all the star power the streamer could hope for, and the results were among the best that 2026’s releases had to offer. The Rip earned 114.7 million views according to the top 10 charts, but its final 91-day total is likely a bit higher.
This includes The Rip‘s record-opening weekend viewership of 41.6 million views, which is the highest total for any release this year. It should come as no surprise that it then had the second-biggest second week, receiving 40.4 million more views. Overall, The Rip stayed in the top 10 global charts for seven weeks, tied for the second-longest stretch for any movie.
Affleck and Damon’s film is also still tied for the most weeks at No. 1: three. Most Netflix movies stay in the top spot for a week or two, but The Rip held on for a third, despite only receiving 14.6 million views during this stretch, which is fewer than other titles that fell down the charts.
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Image via Netflix</figure>
Charlize Theron and Taron Egerton joined forces to make Apex, and the survival thriller has been a massive success for Netflix. After several weeks of release, Apex amassed 118 million views worldwide, which is good for the third-biggest total of the year.
Like most other movies on this list, Apex launched to strong interest, generating 38.2 million views in its opening weekend. It then got 40.2 million views in week 2, making it one of three films to hit that milestone during that time frame. Interest did not go down quickly, either, with Apex staying in the top 10 for six weeks.
Apex may still finish inside Netflix’s top 10 all-time chart, depending on how long interest remains. And while it got as high as No. 2 on this list, it’s since fallen slightly.
2
War Machine
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The most-watched movie on Netflix for a good portion of 2026 was War Machine. Alan Ritchson’s sci-fi war movie came to the streamer on February 12 and immediately found a global audience. War Machine is confirmed to have 139.9 million views, good enough for it to crack the top 10 all-time on Netflix’s charts.
The incredible viewership started with securing 39.3 million views in its opening weekend, which is the second-highest of the year. War Machine then received the most views for any Netflix 2026 original movie in week 2 (44.4 million) and had the lowest drops in weeks 7 and 8.
The strength of these numbers is why War Machine spent eight weeks in Netflix’s top 10 charts, where it generated 128.4 million views. The remaining 11.5 million views came during the rest of its first 91 days of release, allowing Netflix to announce its all-time great viewership figures and confirm plans for a War Machine sequel.
1
Swapped
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After striking big with KPop Demon Hunters, Netflix found another animated smash hit with Swapped. Starring Michael B. Jordan and Juno Temple, the animal-focused fantasy feature collected 144.9 million views during its 91 days of eligibility. That’s good enough for Swapped to also be eighth in Netflix’s top 10 most popular movies ever chart.
Swapped‘s viewership projections suggested early on that it could become one of Netflix’s biggest hits ever. The journey began with a second-place finish in its first week after getting 15.5 million views. Interest picked up from there, with Swapped becoming the most-watched movie for back-to-back weeks. It now has the highest viewership in week 3 (26.4M), week 4 (16.1M), week 5 (10.5M), week 6 (7.5M), week 7 (5.7M), week 8 (4.9M), week 9 (4.6M), and week 10 (3.6M) for any movie this year.
Swapped takes the top spot on this chart after re-entering the top 10 in week 13, where it got another 3.4 million views, enough to push it above War Machine once and for all. Impressively, Swapped remained in the top 3 for its first seven weeks of release, the longest stretch for a 2026 title. It also holds the record for the most weeks in the top 10 charts (11 weeks) among Netflix‘s 2026 original films.
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