A movie written byTaylor Sheridanhas become a streaming hit a decade after its release. Sheridan is a prolific writer who first became widely recognized for penning the screenplays for a number of prominent features, including theChris Pine movieHell or High Water. He also directed two of the most prominent movies that he wrote, namely 2017’sWind Riverand 2021’sThose Who Wish Me Dead.
However, since 2018,Sheridan has become more associated with prestige televisionthan with movies, as he is the creator of the shows in theYellowstonefranchise. The flagship neo-Western series has already spawned the prequels1883and1923and has more spinoffs in development. Additionally, he has either created or executive produced a number of other successful series, includingSpecial Ops: Lioness,Tulsa King,Mayor of Kingstown, andLandman.
Sicario Is Trending On Streaming
It Has Landed On A Major U.S. Chart
2015’sSicariois making waves on Netflix. The movie, which was written by Sheridan and directed by Denis Villeneuve (Arrival,Dune,Dune: Part Two), follows FBI agent Kate Macer (Emily Blunt) finding herself in over her head when she joins a task force targeting a Mexican cartel leader.The movie was a critical and commercial success, grossing $85 million against its $30 million budget, earning a Certified Fresh score of 92% on Rotten Tomatoes, and spawning the 2018 sequelDay of the Soldado.
The star-studded cast ofSicarioalso includes Josh Brolin, Benicio del Toro, Daniel Kaluuya, and Jon Bernthal.
Now,Netflixhas calculated their Top 10 chart of the most watched movies in the United States for the week of February 24 through March 2. After debuting on the platform on March 1, just one day before the end of the week,Sicariohas landed at No. 8 on the chart.
It isthe highest-ranked movie that is more than three years old, as the movies above it include the new releaseCounterattack(No. 3), the 2024 releasesVenom: The Last Dance(No. 1),Despicable Me 4(No. 2), the 2023 moviesTo Catch a Killer(No. 4) andDungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves(No. 5), and the 2022 titlesWatcher(No. 6) andSonic the Hedgehog 2(No. 7).
What This Means For Sicario
It’s Another Sheridan Streaming Success
It remains to be seen ifSicariois able to climb any higher up the chart, butthe fact that it nabbed a position at No. 8 within just two days would seem to indicate that it has strong potentialto do so. Additionally, even though the weekly chart will not be updated again until Tuesday, March 11, the movie had risen to No. 2 on Netflix’s daily chart of their most-watched movies in the United States as of Friday, March 7, more than midway through the week that will be tabulated on that chart, which is a good sign.
It will serve to cement the streaming success of Taylor Sheridan…
If theDenis Villeneuve movieclimbs the chart, as it seems likely to do, and continues to maintain a position in the Top 10, it will serve to cement the streaming success of Taylor Sheridanafter a recent report discovered that his Paramount+ series, which include the twoYellowstoneprequels,Mayor of Kingstown, andSpecial Ops: Lioness,collectively earned the streaming platform more than $260 millionbetween 2021 and 2024. This total was calculated before the premiere of his buzzy new seriesLandman, which features a star-studded cast that includes Billy Bob Thornton, Demi Moore, Jon Hamm, and Ali Larter.
Our Take On Sicario’s Netflix Success
There Is A Precedent For Viewers Loving The Movie
The streaming success of theEmily Blunt movieis not entirely a surprise, even a decade later. Even though it was Taylor Sheridan’s breakout movie,Sicarioremains his third highest-rated project on Rotten Tomatoes. This is even more impressive because, as a writer, executive producer, or creator, he has only earned two Rotten Tomatoes splats throughout his entire career. Below, see a ranking of the critical performance of all of his scored titles where he held any or all of those roles, with scores for the television entries representing the average score of all seasons:
Hell or High Water(2016)
97%
88%
1923(2022-2025)
95%
52%
92%
85%
1883(2021-2022)
89%
76%
83%
87%
90%
79%
93%
78%
62%
72%
73%
63%
86%
66%
53%
81%
45%
41%
While critics' Certified Fresh score likely continues to point new viewers toSicario,audiences have also historically responded well to the movie. With a solidly Fresh 85% audience score on the Popcornmeter, it is the fourth highest-rated movie and the fifth highest-rated project in general forTaylor Sheridan, with a score coming in a full 44% higher than audiences' lowest-rated title, which was his 2021 Tom Clancy adaptationWithout Remorse. Because of this, the 2015 movie could be building additional modern-day word of mouth on top of the bump that titles typically get when they first arrive on Netflix.
