Pedro Pascal's *Gladiator II* has claimed the No. 1 spot on Netflix's U.S. movie chart, according to FlixPatrol, which reported on October 23, 2026 that the Ridley Scott sequel ranked first among Netflix's top 10 movies in the United States.

The turnaround is striking because the film's theatrical run fell well short of expectations: Yahoo reports the sequel grossed more than $462 million worldwide against a reported $250 million production budget, a figure that made it widely branded a disappointment.

Its sudden streaming success, as AOL notes, has brought the film back into the spotlight after its theatrical release.

With a reported production budget of $250 million, *Gladiator II* was expected to generate a far higher box office return, which is why its $462 million worldwide total — including over $172 million domestically and close to $290 million internationally, per Box Office Mojo figures cited by AOL — was read as an underperformance.

The reversal is the story's hook: the very film that disappointed theatrically is now the movie most U.S. subscribers are choosing. Streaming charts, it turns out, judge movies by watchability rather than opening-weekend projections, and Scott's sequel has clearly found its audience at home.

The film's critical standing helps explain its second act.

According to Rotten Tomatoes figures cited by Yahoo, *Gladiator II* holds a critics' score of 70 percent, while its audience score is stronger at 80 percent — a gap suggesting viewers warmed to it more than reviewers did, exactly the profile of a film that over-performs on streaming.

The cast is a draw in itself: Paul Mescal leads as Lucius Verus Aurelius, also known as Hanno, with Pedro Pascal as Acacius, Connie Nielsen as Lucilla, Denzel Washington as Macrinus, Joseph Quinn as Emperor Geta, and Fred Hechinger as Emperor Caracalla.

While rivals lean on seasonal originals, subscribers are showing up in force for a big-budget Roman epic they missed in theaters.

The film picks up directly from the 2000 original: set in 209 AD under Emperors Caracalla and Geta, it follows Lucius — who witnessed Maximus's death at the hands of his uncle years earlier — as he lives as an enslaved fighter compelled to compete in the Colosseum.

Yahoo's report frames the streaming run as a spotlight revival for a film whose theatrical story was already written; AOL echoes that the success has brought it back into the conversation.

For fans, the takeaway is simple: a movie once written off as a $462 million disappointment is currently the most-watched film on Netflix in America.