Animals Tops US Streaming Charts

Ben Affleck's Netflix thriller led the country's streaming rankings in the Nielsen week of October 5 to 11, 2026.

Updated on Nov. 8, 2026 in Dogs

Bold graphic thriller illustration in crimson and black with halftone texture, showing a dog's silhouette against a flat red field. — Ben Affleck's Netflix thriller Animals led US streaming charts for two consecutive weeks after its October 9 release, Nielsen data show. AI Illustration. Upload story photo >

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Animals, a Netflix thriller starring Ben Affleck, was the most-streamed movie in the United States during the Nielsen week of October 5 to 11, 2026. The film was released on October 9, 2026, and held the top spot on the streaming charts for two consecutive weeks.

Why it matters

Animals' strong run shows audience demand for a dog-centered thriller at a time when streaming viewing is closely tracked by Nielsen. The film's popularity offers a snapshot of what American viewers are choosing to watch in the fall of 2026.

Animals runs 106 minutes and logged 756 million streaming minutes in the week after its debut, according to Nielsen. It fell to 292 million minutes from October 19 to 25, placing third on the streaming charts.

The players

Ben Affleck

Ben Affleck is an Academy Award-winning actor and filmmaker who starred in Animals and reworked its screenplay to differ from Spike Lee's Highest 2 Lowest.

Spike Lee

Spike Lee is a filmmaker known for socially conscious features, whose 2025 film Highest 2 Lowest is a version of the same source material as Animals.

The details

Animals is a Netflix thriller starring Ben Affleck, Steven Yeun, Gillian Anderson, Adriana Paz, and Luis Gerardo Méndez. The film is an unofficial remake of the 1963 Japanese film High and Low, and Affleck reworked the screenplay to reduce overlap with Spike Lee's Highest 2 Lowest.

1963: Japanese thriller High and Low is released.
2025: Spike Lee's Highest 2 Lowest is released.
October 5 to 11, 2026: Animals is the most-streamed movie in the US.
October 9, 2026: Animals is released.
October 19 to 25, 2026: Animals logs 292 million streaming minutes.

Culture Shift

Animals is an unofficial remake of the 1963 Japanese thriller High and Low, extending that film's story into a new American streaming adaptation. Its Netflix release shows how older foreign crime stories continue to be reworked for contemporary audiences.

Animals is available to stream on Netflix, letting viewers watch the thriller at home rather than in theaters. Subscribers can find the film on the platform's catalog alongside other current titles.

The takeaway

Streaming charts can shift quickly, so a title's ranking in one week may look very different the next. Viewers interested in a film's performance should check the weekly Nielsen data over several weeks rather than relying on a single snapshot.