Picture Credits: Netflix
If it felt like you had fewer brand-new Netflix Original movies to choose from for your weekend watchlist this year, your instincts were dead on. As we close out the first quarter of 2026, Netflix’s English-language movie output has drastically plummeted to an eight-year low, leaving the ambitious “new movie every week” era firmly in the rearview mirror.
But while the volume is undeniably down, the viewership certainly isn’t. The handful of heavy hitters Netflix did drop—like the juggernaut action flicks War Machine and The Rip—pulled in incredible numbers. Coupled with a robust, globe-trotting non-English slate led by the massive Spanish breakout Firebreak, Q1 2026 there’s still a few big headlines.
Let’s break down the data to see what dominated the global charts and what missed the mark.
English Movie Hits and Misses of 2026 So Far
Netflix’s movie output fell significantly compared to prior years to an eight-year low, and that’s made this section pretty easy to do. The English-language list, in particular, is pretty easy, given we’ve only got four movies to cover in total. Yes, we really went from a movie a week in 2019 to one a month if we’re lucky in the first quarter now… We also didn’t see an animated movie in the first quarter. Not great.
The Action Blockbuster Winners
We’ll begin with the two movies that have gotten Netflix’s movie slate for the year off to a good start:
- War Machine: The current king of 2026. Pulling a jaw-dropping ~94 million views in its first two weeks and charting in 93 countries, it barely edged out The Rip for the top spot. Since it is still charting, its lifetime numbers are going to be astronomical.
- The Rip: An absolute juggernaut. With ~90.3 million views in its first 14 days and a staggering 7-week run in the Top 10 across 93 countries, this film had the kind of long-term staying power that streaming platforms dream of.
The Certified Smash Hits
These titles easily cleared the 40-million-view threshold, cementing themselves as massive successes.
- People We Meet on Vacation: A brilliant performer. Racking up nearly 45.8 million views and dominating the Top 10 in 92 countries for four weeks proves this was a massive global crowd-pleaser that traveled exceptionally well.
- Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man: Off to a ferocious start. With over 44.7 million views in just two weeks and hitting the Top 10 in 91 countries, the highly anticipated film continuation of the beloved series is proving that the Shelby family’s global appeal is as strong as ever.
The Mid-Tier Success
- Joe’s College Road Trip: While its 24.5 million views might look “small” next to War Machine, it’s crucial to remember that this still outperformed every single international title we looked at previously (beating out Firebreak’s ~21.9M). Charting in 52 countries for three weeks makes this a very solid, respectable win, particularly given that it’s a comedy of a character that’s secondary to another franchise.
Non-English Movie Hits and Misses of 2026 So Far
OK, that was a little underwhelming. Let’s jump over to the non-English movies so far:
| Title | Language | Release Date | # Countries Top 10s | Weeks in Top 10 | Estimated 14-Day Views |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Firebreak | Spanish | Feb 20 | 91 | 5 | ~21,928,571 |
| Accused | Hindi | Feb 27 | 77 | 3 | ~15,957,143 |
| State of Fear | Portuguese | Feb 11 | 69 | 2 | >12,700,000 |
| Made in Korea | Tamil | Mar 12 | 54 | 3 | ~11,957,143 |
| The Big Fake | Italian | Jan 23 | 67 | 3 | ~10,785,714 |
| Street Flow 3 | French | Mar 4 | 31 | 2 | >7,100,000 |
| Pavane | Korean | Feb 20 | 19 | 2 | >5,300,000 |
| The Swedish Connection | Swedish | Feb 19 | 21 | 2 | >4,600,000 |
| The Red Line | Thai | Mar 26 | 34 | 1* | 4,200,000* |
| From the Ashes: The Pit | Arabic | Jan 22 | 22 | 2 | >4,000,000 |
| A Letter to My Youth | Indonesian | Jan 29 | 3 | 2 | >3,700,000 |
| 53 Sundays | Spanish | Mar 27 | 7 | 1* | 2,900,000* |
| Cosmic Princess Kaguya! | Japanese | Jan 22 | 6 | 3 | ~2,542,857 |
| This Is I | Japanese | Feb 10 | 3 | 1 | N/A (Missed) |
The Global Blockbusters
When international titles break out, they break out big. Firebreak (Spanish) is the undisputed champion of the year so far. Not only did it pull an astonishing ~21.9 million views in its first 14 days, but it also painted the map red, charting in the Top 10 across 91 different countries and hanging onto the global charts for five weeks.
Hot on its heels is the Hindi-language thriller Accused, which racked up almost 16 million views and crossed borders into 77 countries’ Top 10 lists. Joining the global juggernaut club are State of Fear (Portuguese) and Made in Korea (Tamil), both of which comfortably cleared the 11-million-view mark while charting in over 50 countries each.
Picture Credit: Netflix
The Mid-Tier Movies
European genre fare continues to be a reliable draw for Netflix. The Italian film The Big Fake utilized a wide footprint (67 countries) to pull in nearly 10.8 million views across three weeks, even if it proved to be a bit front-loaded. Meanwhile, the built-in audience for Street Flow 3 (French) secured a respectable 7.1 million views across 31 countries.
The “Local Giant” Phenomenon
High views don’t always equal global reach. A fascinating takeaway from this quarter is A Letter to My Youth (Indonesian). The film secured over 3.7 million views in its first two weeks—a very healthy number—but it only charted in 3 countries. This proves the sheer power of hyper-dense domestic markets to carry a film’s global metrics without the title ever truly “traveling” abroad.
The Underperformers & Misses
It has been a rough quarter for Japanese features. This Is I completely missed the mark, dropping out of the Top 10 after a single week and failing to find traction outside of just 3 countries. Meanwhile, Cosmic Princess Kaguya! represents a bizarre statistical anomaly: it clung to the global Top 10 for three weeks, but only charted in 6 countries and amassed a tepid ~2.5 million views, indicating a deeply devoted but incredibly niche audience.
As we look to Q2, all eyes are on the Thai feature The Red Line, which is already showing breakout potential. Securing 4.2 million views and a 34-country footprint in just its first week, it has the geographical momentum to become the next major sleeper hit.
That’s it for the movies for now – we’ll be back midway through the year for the Q2 winners, plus we’ll have the Netflix Engagement Report too!
