The Best Jurassic Movie in Almost 30 Years Is a #1 Hit on Both Netflix & HBO Max at the Exact Same Time

Videos by ComicBook.com

In an unusual development, Jurassic World Rebirth is at the top of two different streaming services at the same time. According to FlixPatrol, it is the No. 1 movie in the world on HBO Max, beating out Sisu: Road to Revenge and The Mummy Returns. Over on Netflix, Rebirth was the No. 1 movie globally for the week of February 23rd – March 1st, racking up 5.6 million views after being streamed for 12.4 million hours. Rebirth is only available on HBO Max in select international territories as of this writing; all four Jurassic World movies are on Netflix in the United States.

Why Jurassic World Rebirth Is a Major Hit on Streaming

Image Courtesy of Universal Pictures

What makes Jurassic World Rebirth‘s streaming performance impressive is the fact that it is a relatively new addition to the Netflix library. It only started streaming on the service on February 28th, meaning it accumulated those viewership stats in a very short period of time. Odds are, Rebirth will remain in Netflix’s top 10 for a few more weeks at least as more subscribers get an opportunity to watch it. It’ll be interesting to see if any other Jurassic World installments join Rebirth on the chart in subsequent weeks. The first three Jurassic World movies didn’t come to Netflix until the calendar flipped to March, so they haven’t been streaming for as long as Rebirth.

Like many Jurassic movies before it, Rebirth earned mixed reviews (50% Rotten Tomatoes score), but it’s arguably one of the franchise’s best installments. After the first Jurassic World trilogy became increasingly convoluted with human clones and stories revolving around locusts destroying crops, Rebirth director Gareth Edwards took the series back to its roots with a more straightforward tale about a group of people who travel to a dinosaur-infested island for an important mission. Edwards was looking to deliver an old-school thrill ride, and he was largely successful. There are multiple sequences in Jurassic World Rebirth that are thrilling to watch, sporting impressive visual effects. Edwards has always been a master of depicting scale on screen, making him the perfect filmmaker to helm set pieces featuring dinosaurs.

Rebirth further acts as a soft reboot by featuring an all-new cast headlined by Scarlett Johansson, Mahershala Ali, and Jonathan Bailey. No Jurassic ensemble can match the original trio of Sam Neill, Jeff Goldblum, and Laura Dern, but the Rebirth ensemble is talented. Though the writing in Jurassic World Rebirth doesn’t compare to some of the more acclaimed films starring Johansson and Ali, they still do a great job bringing their characters to life and have strong chemistry, doing what they can to flesh out the dynamic. Bailey is also an entertaining presence as a paleontologist; his passion for dinosaurs and reactions to seeing the creatures in real life help Rebirth maintain some of the original’s awe and wonder.

As Netflix users check out what’s new this month, Jurassic World Rebirth is going to stand out for a variety of reasons. It’s a fun blockbuster that’s easy enough to follow if you have the movie on in the background at the end of a long day. There’s been speculation that a fifth Jurassic World movie is in the works (with the main stars of Rebirth returning), but nothing has been officially confirmed yet. Since the series remains a draw for Universal, the studio will likely be interested in getting a new installment off the ground, though they might want to take their time to make sure there’s a strong enough story in place.

What do you think? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!