Jake Gyllenhaal’s Star-Studded Disaster Drama Is Climbing Netflix’s Top Charts

While Netflix’s slick but empty “The Electric State” has added to an already bleak streaming landscape, Jake Gyllenhaal is having nothing short of a streaming renaissance. Gyllenhaal’s creepy sci-fi horror “Life” is a hit on Prime Video at the same time his and Michael Peña’s action thriller is crushing it over on Max. Now, yet another Gyllenhaal-led thriller is ascending the Netflix charts, meaning the actor has claimed a spot in the rankings of the biggest streamer in the game at the same time he’s dominating rival platforms — though he’s had a bit of help with his latest streaming triumph.

2015’s “Everest” is a survival thriller based on the real 1996 Mount Everest disaster that saw eight climbers lose their lives while trying to reach the highest point on Earth. The movie follows two expedition groups who are hit by a freak storm on their way to the top of the titular mountain. One of the groups is led by Gyllenhaal’s Scott Fischer, while the other is led by Jason Clarke’s Rob Hall. But these aren’t the only two stars to appear in the film. Josh Brolin, John Hawkes, Robin Wright, Michael Kelly, Sam Worthington, Keira Knightley, Martin Henderson, and Emily Watson round out a stacked cast, and while the final result isn’t the best thing any of them have been a part of, it’s a heck of a lot better than something like “The Electric State.”

Directed and produced by Icelandic filmmaker Baltasar Kormákur, who previously directed Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg action comedy “2 Guns,” “Everest” was both a critical and commercial success, which you might think would preclude it from the same charts that Kevin Hart managed to top with “Lift.” Yet “Everest” is mounting what looks like it could be an impressive ascent up the Netflix rankings.

“Everest” hit Netflix on March 16, 2025 and according to FlixPatrola site that tracks and aggregates viewership figures across the various streaming platforms, the film became a quick hit. The movie debuted at number six on the U.S. Netflix charts on March 17, which means subscribers immediately started streaming Jake Gyllenhaal’s survival thriller as soon as it hit the service.

Charting in one country obviously isn’t enough to make “Everest” the kind of global hit that so many Netflix movies have become in recent years. Cameron Diaz’s first movie in 11 years, “Back in Action” not only became number one in 92 countries around the world, it stayed in the Netflix charts for more than a month, becoming a bonafide mega-hit and ensuring that Diaz’s return to the spotlight was a triumphant one — at least, if you ignore the reviews. “Everest,” on the other hand, is a very different kind of Netflix success. This is not, of course, a Netflix original, and has been licensed from Universal for streaming on the platform in the U.S. As such, it was never going to ascend to the summit of the streamer worldwide, but a number six debut for a movie that came out ten years ago is nothing to sneer at — especially when the film itself is actually quite good.

After a limited release in several countries worldwide, “Everest” was given a wide release in the United States on September 25, 2015 and went on to gross $221 million worldwide against a $65 million budget. That makes it a pretty good success story for Universal, even if the movie has been largely forgotten ever since. Its streaming return is a welcome development if only because it comes at a time when the streaming charts in general have been clogged with some particularly onerous streaming dross — culminating in the mindlessness of “The Electric State” (seriously, watch this overlooked sci-fi series instead).

What’s more, Everest received some pretty good reviews upon its initial release. It currently has a 73% critic score on Rotten Tomatoeswith Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun Times praising the “stunning visuals” and “solid performances” from the cast. That said, many critics were more impressed with those stunning visuals than anything else, with Rolling Stone‘s Peter Travers calling the film, “a dizzying visual adventure that will knock the wind out of you,” adding, “As personal drama, not so much.”

Still, “Everest” is more than worth a watch and might well prove to be a bigger hit as the week plays out. In order to make it to the summit, however, it will have to traverse some precarious terrain in the form of Sony’s “Kraven the Hunter” which is currently number two in the U.S. and M. Night Shyamalan’s “Trap” (the director’s funniest movie yet) in the third spot. Jake Gyllenhaal and co. might just be able to pull it off, but will still have to contend with “The Electric State” which somehow sits at number one.