As the coronavirus pandemic continues to spread and large public events are being canceled out of caution, many people are staying inside to avoid the possibility of catching COVID-19. And while those people are trying to *stay away* from the outbreak, those who are Netflix subscribers are interested in *watching* an outbreak.
As of Saturday, the 1995 medical-disaster film Outbreak is the ninth most-popular overall title on Netflix in the U.S., according to the streaming services daily Top 10 list. The flick, based onRichard Prestons nonfiction book The Hot Zone, comes in at No. 5 on the platforms rankings of todays Top 10 movies.
Starring Dustin Hoffman, Rene Russo, Morgan Freeman, Cuba Gooding Jr., Kevin Spacey, Donald Sutherland and Patrick Dempsey, Outbreak tells the story of the spread of a fictional Ebola-like virus in Zaire and the fictional small town Cedar Creek, California, due to a monkey that is host to the disease.
Also Read: Why Netflix's New Top 10 Lists Are More About Marketing Than Transparency
Netflix users focus on pandemic-centric programming continues on the TV side, with docuseries Pandemic: How to Prevent an Outbreak currently sitting at No. 9 on the streaming services most-popular shows list.
While this post is mainly about Netflix, heres where wed like to note that Contagion is listed as one of the most popular movies in the iTunes Store today. So the correlation between the spread of COVID-19 and peoples streaming choices doesnt seem to be limited to just Netflix subscribers.
See Netflixs Top 10 lists for overall titles, TV shows and movies below. Remember, these are the most-popular in the U.S. as of Saturday.
Also Read: All the TV Productions Suspended or Delayed Due to Coronavirus Pandemic (Updating)
Overall1. On My Block2. Spenser Confidential3. Lost Girls4. Love Is Blind5. The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez6. The Angry Birds 2 Movie7. Elite8. Space Jam9. Outbreak10. Dirty Money
TV Shows1. On My Block2. Love Is Blind3. The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez4. Elite5. Dirty Money6. Paradise PD7. Altered Carbon8. The Office9. Pandemic: How to Prevent an Outbreak10. Locke & Key
Movies1. Spenser Confidential2. Lost Girls3. The Angry Birds 2 Movie4. Space Jam5. Outbreak6. Freaks7. Kung Fu Panda 28. Go Karts9. Life as We Know It10. Pokemon: Mewtwo Strikes Back Evolution
We're not saying this is inspired by recent events that fill us with terror and insomnia, but we are saying that if you happen to relate to that feeling, here's a list of very cathartic movies about virus outbreaks to get you through it. Whether you want realism, fantasy, horror or maybe computer stuff, we have you covered. Feel free to take a personal day and not leave the house while you watch. And, before you ask: This whole gallery could have been nothing but zombie movies, so we decided to limit things to just Zombie movies that make the disease aspect front and center.
"The Seventh Seal" (1957) -If you haven't seen Ingmar Bergman's masterpiece, drop everything and do it now -- if only so you can finally understand the context for half the jokes in "Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey." Set during the Black Death plague of the 1300s, the film centers on a knight who encounters the angel of death, and the game of chess they play for his soul.
"The Last Man on Earth" (1964)/"The Omega Man" (1971)/"I Am Legend (2007)" -Richard Matheson's 1954 novel "I Am Legend" inspired three very different adaptations. All they have in common is that a plague wiped out most of humanity and the survivors, save the main character, have been turned into (essentially) vampires. Will Smith's 2007 film kept the title but removed pretty much everything related to the book's big twist. Vincent Price's charming 1964 film preserves the plot best but has the lowest budget. But we're most partial to Charlton Heston's ultra-hammy 1971 film.
"The Andromeda Strain" (1971) -Based on the Michel Crighton novel, the film follows scientists investigating an infectious organism that fell to Earth from space. We'll spoil the ending by telling you they mostly save the day, so relax. Notable for some very innovative cinematography.
"Dawn of the Dead" (1978/2004 remake) -George A. Romero's 1978 classic isn't just a clever satire of consumerism. It's also a look at how the zombie apocalypse functions like a plague. And while Zack Snyder's action-packed remake ditched the satire, it actually expanded the disease element. Both are perfect to watch when you want your global pandemics fictional instead of so IRL you can't sleep.
"Outbreak" (1995) - When a new viral hemorrhagic disease breaks out in a small American town, CDC scientists race against time to stop it from spreading. Unfortunately, they also have to deal with a bloodthirsty Army general who wants the virus for a bioweapon and is determined to prevent a cure. This absurd plot was inspired by a celebrated nonfiction history of viruses like ebola because ah, Hollywood. But at least it's directed by the great Wolfgang Petersen.
"12 Monkeys" (1995) -Terry Gilliam's sci-fi classic stars Bruce Willis as a time traveler sent back to the 1990s to identify the origin of a global pandemic that nearly wiped out humanity. The portrayal of our world just before, and long after, the (near) end of civilization is harrowing. Luckily, the crazed ecoterrorist wannabe played by Brad Pitt provides much needed comic relief.
"Cabin Fever" (2002) -Eli Roth's directorial debut follows a group of recent college graduates who become infected with a flesh eating virus during a camping trip. It was remade in 2016 but neither version makes camping look any more appealing.
"Resident Evil" Series (2002-2017) -The only things you need to know about this multifilm franchise based on the Capcom video games is that an evil corporation creates a virus that turns most of humanity into zombies, Mila Jovovich kicks a lot of ass, and it's a go-to for seriously awesome actors looking for paycheck jobs they don't have to be embarrassed about. It's great.
"28 Days Later" (2003)/"28 Weeks Later" (2007) - In Danny Boyle's excellent 2003 original, and its very superior sequel directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, the world is beset by a viral pandemic that turns anyone infected into permanently enraged monsters. Don't call them zombies but, uh, they totally are.
"Carriers" (2009) -In this postapocalyptic drama, four friends who survived a global pandemic road trip to a place they can hopefully live in peace. Spoiler: Things don't really work out. But it has Chris Pine, Emily Van Camp, Christopher Meloni and Piper Perabo, plus Kiernan Shipka in one of her earliest pre-"Mad Men" roles.
"Blindness" (2008) -Based on the Portuguese novel by Jos Saramago, the film looks at what happens when the world is hit by a pandemic that renders people blind. Worth it for the cast alone, which includes Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo, Gael Garca Bernal, Danny Glover and Alice Braga.
"Black Death" (2010) - Sean Bean gets in a warm up session for his career-defining role as Ned Stark here as a leader of a group of knights searching for a heretic during the 14th-century plague. Eddie Redmayne plays a monk who accompanies the knights. Fun fact: Carice van Houten also gets in a "Game of Thrones" warm-up, playing a scheming maybe-maybe-not witch.
"Rise of the Planet of the Apes" (2011) -The reboot of the 1960s-70s "Planet of the Apes" series is anchored by a truly exceptional mo-cap performance from Andy Serkis as the super-intelligent chimp Caesar. It's in this list because Caesar gets his brainpower from an experimental viral-based Alzheimer's treatment, which unfortunately mutates into a deadly pathogen that kills billions of humans. Whoops.
"Contagion" (2011) -You might recognize this as the Steven Soderbergh film where Gwyneth Paltrow dies horribly from a deadly new virus. It's also a smart thriller about how diseases spread, the difficulty in finding a cure and the way conspiracy theorists and incompetent or malicious authorities can make it worse. Uh, excuse us we need a drink this is too real.
"World War Z" (2013) -If you loved the fictional oral history (written by Max Brooks) of how humanity narrowly survived a zombie apocalypse, you'll kind of like this in-name-only adaptation directed by Marc Forster. Brad Pitt plays a UN worker racing against time to discover the origins of a sudden global zombie pandemic -- who still takes time to make damn sure product placement contracts are fulfilled.
HONORABLE MENTION: "Hackers" (1995) - We saved the absolute best for last. It's not just a surprisingly great '90s artifact about computer geeks fighting an evil corporate techie. With a dope soundtrack. And a cast packed with virtual unknowns who would go on to huge fame and acclaim, including (no, really) Wendell Pierce, Lorraine Bracco, Matthew Lillard, Jonny Lee Miller and Angelina Jolie. (Plus the criminally underrated Laurence Mason, and the villain played by Fisher Stevens.) It's also a movie about a virus outbreak. OK, OK, a computer virus. But after all the death you saw in those other movies, "Hackers" is a welcome and much needed fun time. You're in the butter zone now, baby.
We're not saying this is inspired by recent events that fill us with terror and insomnia, but we are saying that if you happen to relate to that feeling, here's a list of very cathartic movies about virus outbreaks to get you through it. Whether you want realism, fantasy, horror or maybe computer stuff, we have you covered. Feel free to take a personal day and not leave the house while you watch. And, before you ask: This whole gallery could have been nothing but zombie movies, so we decided to limit things to just Zombie movies that make the disease aspect front and center.
See the article here:
Outbreak Is Netflixs 9th Most-Popular Overall Title in the U.S. Right Now - TheWrap
- 25 Best Horror Movies Set In The Woods - Screen Rant - March 24th, 2024
- The 20 best horror movies on Hulu (March 2024) - Entertainment Weekly News - March 24th, 2024
- The best zombie movies, ranked - can you survive the zombie apocalypse? - The Manual - February 11th, 2024
- The Best Zombie Movies and Shows on Netflix The Best Zombie Movies and Shows on Netflix - Paste Magazine - February 11th, 2024
- Peacock Now Streaming One of the Best Zombie Movies Ever - ComicBook.com - January 18th, 2024
- Top 7 Best Zombie Movies To Binge Watch On OTT! - HerZindagi - January 18th, 2024
- The 20 Best Movies on Freevee (January 2024) - Paste Magazine - January 9th, 2024
- 13 Bloodiest & Goriest Horror Movies of All Time The Crypt - crypt.creepycatalog.com - January 9th, 2024
- Brave Citizen and other Korean movies and shows Cha Chung-hwa has acted in - Lifestyle Asia Kuala Lumpur - November 25th, 2023
- Top Definition & Meaning | Dictionary.com - January 25th, 2023
- Top Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster - January 17th, 2023
- Top - Wikipedia - January 17th, 2023
- top - Wiktionary - January 17th, 2023
- Top best and worst, top in uk, top in US, top in the world - KnowInsiders - January 17th, 2023
- [Top 15] 7 Days to Die Best Seeds (Alpha 19) | GAMERS DECIDE - November 19th, 2022
- [Top 10] 7 Days To Die Best Base Designs | GAMERS DECIDE - October 19th, 2022
- 'Terrifier 2' has people passing out and it's playing in NJ - New Jersey 101.5 FM - October 19th, 2022
- 10 Best Horror Films of the 1970s - High on Films - October 19th, 2022
- Look at the detail! Pics from The Amazing Pumpkin Carve 2022 in Titusville, NJ - New Jersey 101.5 FM - October 19th, 2022
- You Won't Find "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" on TV This Year: Here's How to Watch - wcrz.com - October 19th, 2022
- 10 'Scooby-Doo!' Episodes and Movies That Are Perfect for Halloween! - Bloody Disgusting - October 11th, 2022
- Box Set Review: The Incredibly Strange Films of Ray Dennis Steckler (1962 - 1986) - HorrorFuel.com: Reviews, Ratings and Where to Watch the Best... - October 11th, 2022
- 35 Best Entrance Themes In Wrestling History Ranked - Wrestling Inc. - October 11th, 2022
- South Korean Movies That Have Left Global Audience Asking For More - Outlook India - September 16th, 2022
- Rob Zombie - IMDb - August 31st, 2022
- Sci-Fi Movies That Made The Cast Do Gross Things - /Film - August 31st, 2022
- Top Ten Most Beautiful Blond Models - ReelRundown - August 31st, 2022
- The Keymaster And The Gatekeeper 105.7 The Point - 105.7 The Point - August 31st, 2022
- Carter and the best Asian martial arts movies on the Internet right now - Entertainment News , Firstpost - Firstpost - August 22nd, 2022
- [Top 25] Best Zombie Games for PC | GAMERS DECIDE - August 14th, 2022
- [Top 5] Minecraft Zombie Apocalypse Mods That Are Awesome - August 14th, 2022
- New Netflix Zombie Movie Debuts on Top 10 List - Horror - August 14th, 2022
- Ten Different Ways to Start a Zombie Apocalypse Story or Novel - August 14th, 2022
- 'The Gray Man' Has Massive Debut on Netflix - ScreenCrush - July 28th, 2022
- 50 Most Memorable Danny Glover Movies Ranked Worst To Best - Looper - June 14th, 2022
- 5 best movies and shows on Prime Video this weekend: The Boys - Amazon Adviser - June 5th, 2022
- Poll: What's the Best Korn Album? - Vote Now - Loudwire - June 5th, 2022
- Stories of the subcontinent: Films from India, Pakistan, Nepal illuminate 75th anniversary line-up of Cannes Film Festival - The Financial Express - May 17th, 2022
- Selling Sunset's Christine Quinn Has Officially Exited The Oppenheim Group, But Is That A Good Thing? - msnNOW - May 4th, 2022
- Ten Movies That Were Saved by Their Ending - 25YearsLaterSite.com - April 8th, 2022
- Top 10 movies from 2021 that take your breath away! - Financial World - April 8th, 2022
- 15 Years Ago: The Failure of 'Grindhouse' Heralds a New Era - Ultimate Classic Rock - April 8th, 2022
- Lzzy Hale + Katie Daryl Return for New Seasons of AXS' 'A Year in Music' + 'Top Ten Revealed' - Loudwire - April 8th, 2022
- Crack At it Again - Brewster Suspect Arrested in Danbury, Again - i95rock.com - April 8th, 2022
- Top 5 Zombie Base Building Games (Build, Defend, Survive ... - March 27th, 2022
- Top 10 Reasons the Zombie Apocalypse Could Really Happen ... - March 27th, 2022
- HORROR TEN SPOT: Top 10 Asses - March 27th, 2022
- 60 Best Zombie Movies of All Time | Stacker - March 27th, 2022
- All time best end-of-the-world movies to watch in 2022 - Digital Boom - January 23rd, 2022
- 2022s big TV and movie anniversaries - Polygon - January 9th, 2022
- The George Romero-Helmed Stephen King Adaptation We'll Never Get To See - /Film - December 14th, 2021
- The 15 Best Sci-Fi Movies Of 2021 Ranked - /Film - December 14th, 2021
- Google Has Revealed All the Movies and TV Shows We've Been Searching for in 2021 - Concrete Playground - December 14th, 2021
- How Shaun of the Dead Got a Boost From Hollywood and Comic-Con Geeks - Gizmodo - November 29th, 2021
- A Kickass Zombie Movie Is Back From The Dead To Terrorize Netflix - We Got This Covered - November 13th, 2021
- Fans Go Wild As Shang-Chi Arrives On Disney Plus - We Got This Covered - November 13th, 2021
- Day of the Dead interview with star Christopher Russell - 1428 Elm - October 20th, 2021
- Best Zombie Movies Streaming on Hulu, HBO Max, and Amazon Prime - IndieWire - September 5th, 2021
- James Gunn and Craig Mazin made The Boys six years before the comic - The Digital Fix - August 10th, 2021
- Michigan Congressmen and Women Can Work Together, Some Times - wbckfm.com - wbckfm.com - July 11th, 2021
- Netflix's 'Resident Evil' Anime Shows Off Exactly Why People Love the Franchise - Thrillist - July 11th, 2021
- The best TV series to watch on Netflix, Amazon Prime, Now, BritBox and more this July 2021 - iNews - July 11th, 2021
- No Hands Clapping - by Jonah Goldberg - The Remnant - The Dispatch - July 11th, 2021
- 50 Best Zombie Movies of the 21st Century - Cultured Vultures - July 1st, 2021
- Fewer in NJ getting COVID, and most are unvaccinated, Murphy says - New Jersey 101.5 FM - July 1st, 2021
- In Between The Poop And The Pope 105.7 The Point - 105.7 The Point - July 1st, 2021
- How many Halloween movies are there ? The complete Michael Myers timeline to watch before Halloween Kills arrived - Sportskeeda - July 1st, 2021
- Lucifer And Army Of The Dead Top Nielsens As Cruella Debuts On Disney+ - Forbes - July 1st, 2021
- What to watch on Netflix Top 10: Most popular shows May 28 - Tom's Guide - June 1st, 2021
- Box Office is Back Thanks to A Quiet Place Part II and World War Z - Film School Rejects - June 1st, 2021
- Army of the Dead Is One of Netflix's Biggest Hits with 72 Million Account Views and Counting - MovieWeb - June 1st, 2021
- New from Netflix in June: series, films and documentaries Explica .co - Explica - June 1st, 2021
- 10 greatest movie trilogies of all time - The Independent - May 21st, 2021
- Army Of The Dead (2021) - Rotten Tomatoes - May 21st, 2021
- The 10 Best Alien Invasion Movies - Cinelinx - May 8th, 2021
- 40 Years Ago: 'Friday the 13th Part 2' Makes Jason a Killer - Ultimate Classic Rock - May 8th, 2021
- Underappreciated Gems The Top 10 Most Underrated Movies of the Past 5 Years - Hollywood Insider - April 23rd, 2021
- If Browns Take a Wide Receiver in Round 1... - Yardbarker - April 23rd, 2021
- Former Bengals Great Gives His Thoughts on Penei Sewell and Ja'Marr Chase Debate - Yardbarker - April 23rd, 2021
- Ozzie Albies and Dansby Swanson are showing us why early-season stats can be meaningless - Yardbarker - April 23rd, 2021
Reviewed and Recommended by Erik Baquero