Netflix Dominates Nielsen’s Most-Streamed Movies List with ‘The Rip’ Leading the Charge
The streaming wars have generated numerous headlines over the years, but few metrics are as significant as Nielsen’s official viewership rankings, which serve as the gold standard for gauging what Americans are actually watching on their televisions. Every six months, this data provides a rare, unbiased glimpse into which platforms and titles are truly capturing audience attention.
The latest snapshot has just been released for the first half of 2026, revealing a striking picture of one platform’s ongoing hold on American living rooms. While competitors have seen incremental gains, the numbers clearly indicate which streamer is still leading the pack in the movie category.
Netflix’s crime thriller ‘The Rip,’ featuring Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, has topped Nielsen’s list of the most-streamed movies for the first half of 2026, as detailed in the company’s “Streaming Landscape 2026” report. The film amassed an impressive 4.432 billion viewing minutes since its January premiere, significantly outpacing every other title on the chart.
Netflix’s dominance extends well beyond the top position. The platform secured an impressive eight of the twenty highest-ranking movie slots, with ‘War Machine’ in second place at 3.531 billion minutes, ‘The Crash’ in fifth with 2.689 billion minutes, and other Netflix titles like ‘Remarkably Bright Creatures,’ ‘Apex,’ ‘Anaconda’ (2025), ‘People We Meet on Vacation,’ and ‘Joe’s College Road Trip’ also making notable appearances throughout the chart.
Nielsen’s rankings are based on total viewing minutes among individuals aged two and older, tracked through the company’s Streaming Content Ratings service, which monitors a panel of over 40,000 households. The data spans from late December to late June, offering a comprehensive view of first-half viewing habits across the nation.
- The Rip (Netflix) – 4.432B minutes
- War Machine (Netflix) – 3.531B minutes
- Jurassic World Rebirth (Peacock / Netflix) – 3.395B minutes
- The Wrecking Crew (Prime Video) – 2.946B minutes
- The Crash (Netflix) – 2.689B minutes
- Remarkably Bright Creatures (Netflix) – 2.623B minutes
- Apex (Netflix) – 2.535B minutes
- Sinners (HBO Max) – 2.509B minutes
- Anaconda (2025) (Netflix) – 2.331B minutes
- The Running Man (2025) (Paramount+) – 2.307B minutes
- One Battle After Another (HBO Max) – 2.304B minutes
- People We Meet on Vacation (Netflix) – 2.298B minutes
- Joe’s College Road Trip (Netflix) – 2.191B minutes
- Maternal Instinct (Netflix) – 1.995B minutes
- How To Train Your Dragon (2025) (Peacock / Netflix) – 1.944B minutes
- Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan: Ghost War (Prime Video) – 1.939B minutes
- Harry Potter: Sorcerer’s Stone (Peacock / HBO Max) – 1.923B minutes
- Crime 101 (Prime Video) – 1.807B minutes
- Thrash (MV 2026) (Netflix) – 1.766B minutes
- Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery (Netflix) – 1.708B minutes
‘The Rip’s’ remarkable performance on the Nielsen chart aligns closely with figures shared by Netflix regarding the film’s success. According to Netflix’s own “What We Watched” report, the film achieved a record-breaking opening weekend viewership of 41.6 million views, marking the highest opening total for any release this year, and maintained the number one spot on Netflix’s global charts for three consecutive weeks, more than any other title during that time.
While Netflix titles dominated the overall movie rankings, competing platforms still achieved significant wins in other categories. Nielsen noted that Disney+’s ‘Zootopia 2’ led the kids’ movie category with 6.54 billion minutes, while Netflix’s own ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ ranked second in that category with 5.59 billion minutes.
The broader Nielsen report also indicated a notable shift toward original streaming content across the board, with three original series breaking into the overall top 10 rankings this half, up from just one during the same period last year. This trend suggests that streaming platforms are increasingly succeeding with exclusive programming rather than relying solely on acquired or licensed content to drive viewership.
With Netflix continuing to lead in both Nielsen’s independent tracking and its own internal reporting, the platform’s hold on American audiences shows no signs of weakening as we move into the latter half of the year.
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