Netflix is one of the most popular streaming services in the world, with nearly 270 million subscribers. And just what do those people tend to watch? In particular, what is the most popular movie on Netflix? Each week, the streaming service releases a list of its 10 most-watched movies over a recent seven-day period to keep subscribers in the loop regarding its most popular titles.
After wowing audiences with his stunt at the Olympics, Tom Cruise is winning over Netflix subscribers as Jack Reacher. Cruise’s two Reacher films, Jack Reacher: Never Go Back and Jack Reacher, are No. 1 and No. 4, respectively, on this week’s top 10 list. Other notable titles in the top 10 include Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie at No. 2, White Chicks at No. 6, and Red at No. 8. Below, we’ve listed the top 10 movies in the U.S. from August 5 to August 11, along with general information about each film, such as genre, rating, cast, and synopsis.
Looking for something else? We’ve also rounded up the best shows on Netflix, the best movies on Netflix, the best movies on Amazon Prime, and the best movies on Disney+. For Netflix fans, check out the 10 most popular shows on Netflix right now.
10. The Emoji Movie (2017)
12%
3.4/10The symbols that convey emotions are the lead characters in The Emoji Movie. In the digital city of Textopolis, every emoji has but one has one facial expression, from happy and sad to angry and funny. The lone emoji who can make multiple expressions is Gene (T.J. Miller), the son of two “meh” emojis. Gene wants nothing more than to be an emoji with one expression.
With the help of his friends Hi-5 (James Corden) and Jailbreak (Anna Faris), Gene travels to the cloud to reduce his multiple expressions into one. While on their journey, the trio crosses paths with Smiler (Maya Rudolph), the original emoji who wants to delete malfunctions like Gene. When traveling through the different apps, the emojis discover a plot that could wipe out their existence, prompting Gene and his friends to step up and save the day.
9. The Lorax (2012)
46%
6.4/10Dr. Seuss’ 1971 children’s book comes to life in 2012’s The Lorax. Ted (Zac Efron) is obsessed with a teenage girl named Audrey (Taylor Swift) and will do anything to win her affection. Since they live in an artificial city, Ted decides that the way he can impress his crush is to give her a real tree. Through his grandmother, Ted learns about the Once-ler (Ed Helms), a reclusive inventor who knows the origins of trees and what happened to them.
Through his conversation with the Once-ler, Ted learns about the Lorax, an otherworldly creature with orange fur and a yellow mustache who is the guardian of the forest and its Truffula Trees. Ted is given the last Truffula seed to plant, but outside forces, including the greedy mayor (Rob Riggle), try to stop the boy from growing his tree.
8. Red (2010)
60%
7.0/10Former CIA black ops agent Frank Moses (Bruce Willis) is happily retired and living a quiet life in the suburbs. Frank spends most of his time talking to Sarah Ross (Mary-Louise Parker), a call center employee he has fallen in love with. One day, a squad of assassins attacks Frank at his house. Luckily, Frank survives, but why this happened remains a mystery. Believing Sarah is in danger, Frank kidnaps his love interest to keep her safe.
In search of answers, Frank gets the band together and reunites with his old team: Joe Matheson (Morgan Freeman), Marvin Boggs (John Malkovich), and Vicky Winslow (Helen Mirren). To survive, they’ll need to become the elite soldiers they once were in their previous lives. Together, the group uncovers a conspiracy that traces back to the White House.
7. Tarot (2024)
36%
4.8/10A group of friends learns the hard way to obey the rules of Tarot readings in Tarot. Haley (Harriet Slater), Grant (Adain Bradley), Paxton (Jacob Batalon), Paige (Avantika), Madeline (Humberly González), Lucas (Wolfgang Novogratz), and Elise (Larsen Thompson) head to the house in the Catskills to celebrate Elise’s birthday. One night, the group reads horoscopes from a box of tarot cards they find in the basement.
Each person is assigned a different character. For example, Elise gets the High Priestess and Lucas gets The Hermit. The next day, one of the characters from a card kills someone. The group learns that using someone else’s deck violates the sacred rule of tarot cards. Now, they must undo their mistake before it leads to more death.
6. White Chicks (2004)
41%
5.8/10Who’s ready for some shopping and Vanessa Carlton? Those concepts are foreign to FBI agent brothers Marcus (Marlon Wayans) and Kevin Copeland (Shawn Wayans). After screwing up a drug bust, the brothers become FBI babysitters. Their task: escort two rich white women, Brittany (Maitland Ward) and Tiffany Wilson (Anne Dudek), to a fashion event in the Hamptons.
The police believe the Wilsons are the next targets in a kidnapping conspiracy, so authorities plan to use the sisters as bait. When the sisters bail, Marcus and Kevin replace them. How? The two African-American men use makeup and prosthetics to transform into two blonde, white women. The “white chicks” must keep up the ruse long enough to bust the kidnapping ring. Easier said than done.
5. The Cat in the Hat (2003)
19%
4.1/10Who better to play one of Dr. Seuss’ most iconic characters than the master of physical transformations, Mike Myers? The Austin Powers star donned the red-and-white hat to play the misbehaving Cat in the Hat. One day, the talking Cat arrives at the home of Sally Walden (Dakota Fanning) and her brother, Conrad (Spencer Breslin).
The Cat teaches the bored children to have fun. However, the Cat loves to cause a ruckus, unleashing his troublemakers, Thing 1 and Thing 2, inside the house. Things get out of hand when the family’s dog, Nevins, runs away. Can the children find Nevins and clean up the house before their mother (Kelly Preston) returns home?
4. Jack Reacher (2012)
50%
7.0/10Five people are shot dead during one morning in Pittsburgh. Who did it? The lead suspect is James Barr (Joe Sikora), an ex-U.S. sniper. When Barr is taken into custody, he asks for Jack Reacher (Tom Cruise), an ex-Army investigator. After meeting with Barr’s defense attorney, Helen Rodin (Rosamund Pike), Reacher agrees to examine the case.
During his investigation, Reacher discovers inconsistencies at the crime scene, leading him to believe that Barr is either innocent or he had help. To make matters worse, Reacher unearths a conspiracy involving a local company that led to the deaths of innocent people. Without anyone to trust, Reacher lives up to his drifter personality and becomes a one-man wrecking crew as he searches for the mastermind behind the killings.
3. Trolls Band Together (2023)
53%
6.0/10The colorful furry animals return for a third outing in Trolls Band Together. Poppy (Anna Kendrick) and Branch (Justin Timberlake) are officially a couple. Much to her surprise, Poppy learns that Branch was a member of her favorite boy band, BroZone, with his brothers Floyd (Troye Sivan), John Dory (Eric André), Spruce (Daveed Diggs), and Clay (Kid Cudi).
However, the brothers broke up after a bad concert. In the present, John Dory visits Branch to tell him that Floyd has been captured by Velvet (Amy Schumer) and Veneer (Andrew Rannells), two teenagers who will do anything to be pop stars. To save Floyd, Branch must reunite with his other brothers and reassemble the band.
2. Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie (2024)
3.8/10In Bikini Bottom, SpongeBob SquarePants typically gets all the attention. This time, Sandy Cheeks becomes the star in Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie. One day the residents of Bikini Bottom are suddenly removed from the ocean by the Bureau of Official Texas Science Laboratory, aka B.O.O.T.S. Sandy works for B.O.O.T.S., a lab located in Galveston, Texas.
Sandy and SpongeBob head to the lab, thinking it’s one misunderstanding. Unfortunately, the duo learns that B.O.O.T.S. wants to genetically modify the people of Bikini Bottom, clone them, and sell them as toy pets. To save the people of Bikini Bottom, Sandy and SpongeBob must work together and make it to Texas before their friends become air breathers.
1. Jack Reacher: Never Go Back (2016)
47%
6.1/10Before Alan Ritchson became Jack Reacher for Prime Video, Tom Cruise starred in the titular role for Jack Reacher: Never Go Back. Jack Reacher (Cruise) is surprised to learn his ally, Major Susan Turner (Cobie Smulders), has been detained for espionage. Refusing to believe his friend would become a traitor, Reacher sets out to clear her name.
Trouble escalates when Reacher is framed for murder. Reacher soon discovers that he and Turner are pawns in a government conspiracy involving an arms trafficking organization. This nefarious group employs the “Hunter,” a vicious mercenary killing former soldiers. Reacher must work quickly to save the day. To do that, it’s going to require a lot of fighting, something he welcomes.
