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.
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.
- The data is from January 1 to June 14 and collected from Netflix’s top 10 global charts
- Movement in the new update: Swapped moves to second place, Office Romance jumps into the top 10 (knocking out 180)
- Title to watch: Voicemails for Isabelle, Zoey Deutch and Nick Robinson’s rom-com, releasing on June 19
10
Ladies First
Ladies First has secured a place in the top 10 for Netflix during its first three weeks on the platform. It has totaled 36 million views during this time. The Rosamund Pike and Sacha Baron Cohen-led comedy debuted to 11.9 million views, but it had an even better week 2, generating 18.8 million views. That was good for the #1 spot on Netflix’s global top 10 chart for the week.
Interest has fallen off swiftly, though, with week 3 only pulling in 5.3 million views. The 71.81% decrease in week 3 is one of the highest for a 2026 Netflix movie. But after going down to seventh place in the weekly top 10, it has fallen out of the charts completely within a month.
Remarkably Bright Creatures is finding some success on Netflix. Adapting the book of the same name by Shelby Van Pelt, the movie earns a spot in this list after collecting 43.8 million views in its first four weeks of release.
Remarkably, the mystery drama has done so without finishing at the top of Netflix’s global charts. It opened in third place with 10.4 million views. Remarkably Bright Creatures then jumped to second place in week 2 with 20.3 million views before falling to 8.2 million and fifth place in week 3. After barely staying inside the top 10 in week 4, it officially fell out the following week.
8
Office Romance
Jennifer Lopez and Brett Goldstein’s rom-com has been a very strong performer for Netflix. Office Romance has totaled 45.5 million views within its first two weeks of release, allowing it to climb into the top 10 already. This was likely from the second it debuted to 20.9 million views in its first week.
Subscribers have continued to flock to the film since then, with it repeating at #1 in its second weekend, where it totaled 24.6 million views. Only the top 5 movies of the year had stronger second weeks, although the 17.7% increase is actually the second biggest jump among those titles. This should position Office Romance to have strong legs and climb up this chart in the weeks to come.
7
Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man
After finding lots of success with the Peaky Blinders show, the sequel movie, Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man, arrived to great anticipation this year. The results were fairly favorable, with it managing 50.6 million views in three weeks.
This started with a strong 25.3 million view count in the first week. 19.4 million views came in week 2, allowing it to hold onto the top spot on the global charts. But it was out of the top 5 a week later and vacated the top 10 chart entirely by week 4.
6
People We Meet On Vacation
People We Meet On Vacation was the first of Netflix’s original movies in 2026, launching on January 9. The romantic comedy starring Emily Bader and Tom Blyth, and adapting Emily Henry’s novel, has officially collected 54.3 million views during its four weeks in the top 10 global charts.
This performance began with 17.2 million views over its opening weekend. The following week brought in another 23.3 million views, even though it fell to second place on the global charts. It then fell out of the top 5 by its fourth week and was on the outside of the top 10 chart a week later. Still, People We Meet On Vacation‘s popularity is undeniable.
5
Thrash
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
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 also holds another record, as it has the most weeks at #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.
3
Apex
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 #2 on this list, it’s since fallen slightly.
2
Swapped
After striking it big with KPop Demon Hunters, Netflix has found another animated smash hit with Swapped. Starring Michael B. Jordan and Juno Temple, the animal-focused fantasy feature sits at 120.4 million views after six weeks. Swapped‘s viewership projections continue to suggest it can become one of Netflix’s biggest hits ever.
The journey to such an accomplishment 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), and week 7 (5.7M) for any movie this year.
Impressively, Swapped has remained in the top 3 for its first seven weeks of release. It has put itself in a position where it may just catch the #1 movie of the year by the end of its 91 days.
1
War Machine
The most-watched movie on Netflix in 2026 is 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 move into 9th 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 week 8 (3.2 million).
|
Rank |
2026 Netflix Movie |
Total Views |
|---|---|---|
|
1) |
War Machine |
139.9 million |
|
2) |
Swapped |
120.4 million |
|
3) |
Apex |
118.0 million |
|
4) |
The Rip |
114.7 million |
|
5) |
Thrash |
85.7 million |
|
6) |
People We Meet On Vacation |
54.3 million |
|
7) |
Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man |
50.6 million |
|
8) |
Office Romance |
45.5 million |
|
9) |
Remarkably Bright Creatures |
43.8 million |
|
10) |
Ladies First |
36.0 million |
The strength of these numbers is why War Machine spent eight weeks in Netflix’s top 10 charts, which is the longest stretch of any title, and generated 128.4 million views during that time. 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.
- founded
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January 16, 2007
- founders
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Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph