Jake Gyllenhaal’s $552 million sci-fi disaster movie becomes Netflix global hit 20 years later

The day after tomorrow Has found success on Netflix’s global top 10 chart after 20 years. In 2004, director Roland Emmerich S The day after tomorrow Chronicles the beginning of a devastating new planetary Ice Age With a story that follows paleoclimatologist Jack Hall (Dennis Quaid) as he treks from Washington DC to New York City to rescue his stranded son, Sam (Jake Gyllenhaal). The film, which also stars Amy Rossum, Ian Holm, Sela Ward and Arjay Smith, was a box office hit, earning $552.6 million worldwide.

Now, two decades later, New data from Netflix reveals that The day after tomorrow ranks as the sixth most popular movie On the streamer globally for the week of September 9 – 15. The film pulled in an impressive 11.6 million hours watched and 5.6 million views in total. Although The day after tomorrow Falls short of titles like Fast and Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw (2019), The deliverance (2024), and Into the Fire: The Lost Daughter (2024), it beats Beach of tomorrow (2014), The Union (2024), and Gemini man (2019). Check out the full top 10 list below:

What the day after tomorrow’s Netflix success says about the film

How the Gyllenhaal flick fared with critics and audiences at the time

The day after tomorrow Became a success quickly on its release. With an estimated budget of $125 million, the film could have looked at a break-even point as high as $312 million, a figure it far exceeded at the worldwide box office. Critically, the project was more of a mixed bag, and It currently sports a low 45% critics score and 50% audience score Rotten tomatoes. However, the film’s resurgence in popularity on Netflix speaks to its enduring appeal 20 years later.

The movie was widely seen at the time of its release and would become a home-viewing hit, and There is of course a comfort and watchability factor that helps make it a good choice on streaming today. What’s more, stars like Gyllenhaal and Quaid remain popular two decades later, and it’s possible that the success of projects like so to speak, innocent (2024-) for the former and Reign (2024) for the latter have contributed to The day after tomorrows streaming success.

How The Day After Tomorrow Compares to Emmerich’s Other Disaster Movies

The director returned several times to the Holocaust genre

The key to any good disaster movie is not only nailing the actual disaster sequences themselves, but also telling a compelling, human story. in The day after tomorrow, After depicting extreme weather events in places like Tokyo, Los Angeles and New York City, Emmerich homes in on the movie’s beating heart, which is Jack’s relationship with his son.Sum. The two characters struggle to connect on any level in earlier scenes in the movie, but Jack eventually bridges the divide between them literally and figuratively when he takes an impossible journey to reunite with him.

Emmerich tried to restore the balance between spectacle and emotion 2012 (2009)Which depicts a father, played by John Cusack, trying to keep his family safe after a series of global catastrophes threaten humanity’s existence. Although the Emmerich film fared worse with critics and audiences on Rotten Tomatoes due to a less compelling human story, sporting scores of 39% and 47% respectively, it beat The day after tomorrow At the box office, grossing $769.7 million worldwide on an estimated budget of $200 million.

Emerich then returned to the disaster genre with Moonfall (2022). The film, which leans more towards science fiction than his previous disaster movie efforts and stars Halle Berry and Patrick Wilson, is generally bad with critics, with 35% on Rotten Tomatoes. Despite a cookie-cutter human story and a far-fetched ending, the film hits The day after tomorrow In terms of audience score with a respectable 70%. Moonfall But it was also a major bomb, earning only 67 million dollars on an estimated budget of around 150 million dollars.

Our popularity of Netflix on the day after tomorrow

The Roland Emmerich film stands the test of time

The day after tomorrow Features some ambitious, effects-driven sequences that largely hold up to this day, which has surely helped the movie stand the test of time as a whole. What’s more, the film, despite being far-fetched in many ways, continues to feel Time 20 years later due to the ongoing and escalating climate crisis. Although the lightning freezes and tornado devastation seen in the film are heightened in the name of entertainment, extreme weather events are becoming more common in the real world, adding new layers to Emmerich’s movie and enhancing rewatchability.

Although there are smarter and more realistic disaster movies, The day after tomorrow It remains a seminal position in the genre, especially for audiences of a certain age, myself included. Due to its cast, story, effects, and the nostalgia factor, it is very likely that Emmerich’s film will continue to be a popular home-viewing choice for years to come.

Key background

• Before directing The day after tomorrowEmmerich directed films like Independence Day (1996) and Godzilla (1998).

• The IMDB score of this movie is 6.5.

• Jake Gyllenhaal was only 21 when filming began.

Source: Netflix