Netflix’s New #1 Hit Scores 1 Billion Minutes Viewed in a Single Week
So far, Netflix has been thriving with its original films halfway through 2026. It all started with Matt Damon and Ben Affleck's crime thriller The Rip, which scored the biggest feature opening for the streamer since the long-anticipated release of Happy Gilmore 2 last year. Then, Michael B. Jordan's new animated flick Swapped stole the show, setting a record for the highest weekly viewership of any animated Netflix film at 38.7 million while remaining a global darling. Biggest of all, however, has been the Alan Ritchson sci-fi actioner War Machine, which broke into the platform's all-time top ten for English-language movies with 139.9 million views, pushing The Gray Man to tenth place. However, it's not just originals that are dominating the charts.
GOAT, the family animated sports comedy starring Stranger Things alum Caleb McLaughlin and NBA icon Steph Curry, landed on Netflix back on May 14 and made quite a splash within just its first week. According to Puck News’ Matthew Belloni, it was the #1 movie by Nielsen's Top 10 Streaming rankings for the week of May 11 through 17 by a comfortable margin, racking up a staggering total of around 1.073 billion viewing minutes. That was more than enough to beat out Swapped, which came in third that week, but also another buzzy hit from last month, Remarkably Bright Creatures, which came in second at 871 minutes. Both may have been released earlier in May than GOAT, but even so, crossing the billion mark in less than a week on the platform is no achievement to scoff at. GOAT tells the story of a literal anthropomorphic goat named Will Harris (McLaughlin), who's a classic sports underdog. Although he's small, his dreams are big, as he shoots to be the next great star of roarball, a full-contact, hyper-intense basketball-like sport that is typically dominated by the biggest and baddest animals around. When he gets his once-in-a-lifetime shot to play with the pros, he's determined to make the most of it and revolutionize the game in the face of his teammates, the fans, and everyone who doubted him. On his team is a star-studded roster, featuring the voices of Gabrielle Union, Aaron Pierre, Nicola Coughlan, Nick Kroll, Patton Oswalt, Curry, and McLaughlin's old Stranger Things co-star, David Harbour, among others.
At the helm for the action on the court was director Tyree Dillihay, with Curry also producing in his film debut. It was a solid return to theaters for Sony Pictures Animation back in February, with its $195 million global box office haul and strong reviews, including a Certified Fresh 84% critics score and Verified Hot 92% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. It's only fitting that GOAT is also finding success on Netflix, considering Sony's last animated outing was the megahit KPop Demon Hunters, which took the world by storm and became the platform's most-watched movie ever after exclusively launching on streaming last summer. The film has a long way to go to match that level of success at home, but Sony has much to be happy about as they gear up for their next big effort, Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse, next year.
GOAT is now streaming on Netflix. Stay tuned here at Collider for more on all the biggest hits on streaming throughout the year.
Release Date
February 13, 2026
Runtime
93 minutes
Director
Tyree Dillihay
Writers
Aaron Buchsbaum, Teddy Riley, Nicolas Curcio
Producers
Rodney Rothman, Stephen Curry, Michelle Raimo Kouyate, Erick Peyton, Adam Rosenberg
