A surprising film has hopped to the top of the charts to become the most-watched movie on Netflix right now. For reasons that no one can ascertain, The Late Late Show host James Corden is famously in practically everything these days, having appeared in five movies over the past two years. And one of those is proving to be as unstoppable on streaming as Corden’s agents are at getting him hired.
As per the latest stats from Flix Patrol, Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway is the number one most popular title on Netflix in the United States this Friday. The top 10 is filled with family films at present, including the recent original The Boy Called Christmas and Mike Myers’ The Cat in the Hat (no, really), but it’s the sequel based on the Beatrix Potter books that subscribers are enjoying most.
A follow-up to 2018’s Peter Rabbit, The Runaway ironically went missing for over a year as it was delayed again and again due to the pandemic, eventually dropping just in time for Easter this year after initially being scheduled for Feb. 2020. Nevertheless, it ended up raking in a box office haul of $153.8 million, which is pretty decent given the state of the industry at the time, though not a patch on the original’s $351.3 mil gross.
In terms of reviews, though, it went down just about as well — or not so well, depending on how you look at it. The 2018 flick’s 64% score on Rotten Tomatoes is about even with 2021’s The Runaway sporting 67% on the review-aggregate site. “An enjoyably silly and self-aware sequel,” reads the critical consensus. “Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway should leave fans of the original feeling fairly hoppy.”
James Corden returned to voice the title character alongside an A-list returning voice cast including Margot Robbie, Elizabeth Debicki, and Sia. Aimee Horne replaced Daisy Ridley. Live-action leads Rose Byrne, and Domhnall Gleeson reprised their roles, too, with David Oyelowo joining the fray as a big-city publisher looking to exploit the rabbits for his own gain. Catch Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway on Netflix now.