The “Barbenheimer” summer of 2023 will not be forgotten. The Internet phenomenon celebrated the pink doll while in a cinema hall the physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer and his team worked on the development of the atomic bomb. Two films, so different in plot and tone, flickered in the hearts of fans. “Barbie” was just ahead at the box office at the time, “Oppenheimer” clearly won at the Oscars – on their sofas at home, the audience also voted for the historical drama “Oppenheimer” in 2024 – first place for the film. Barbie “only” landed in ninth place in the German streaming top ten. This is proven by the JustWatch streaming charts. The company records the user activity of over 40 million film and series fans every month.
Drama and action were what drew film enthusiasts to the television. The second part of “Dune” climbs to second place – just ahead of “Dune part one”. Maybe to remember the plot again before the cinema release in February or the streaming evening at home? Oscar glamor dominated fourth and fifth places. In the running for best actress are Emma Stone for “Poor Things,” in which she is revived as a kind of female Frankenstein, and Sandra Hülser for “Anatomy of a Case.” She plays a German author who becomes involved in the investigation into the cause of her French husband's death. In the end, Poor Things not only won the streaming battle, the Oscar also went to Emma Stone.
Photo: Atsushi Nishijima/Walt Disney Germany/dpa
Loyal fans of popular film series got their money's worth. With “Godzilla Minus One” (6th place) and “Deadpool & Wolverine” (7th place), two blockbusters delivered plenty of excitement and adrenaline. Both films are not only perfect candidates for a surround sound home theater experience, but also highlights in their respective franchise universes.
“Barbie” lands at number 9 in the streaming charts
The film “The Creator” takes up a very current topic with the topic of AI and thus hits the nerve of the times. The result: number 8 in the charts, ahead of “Barbie”. In the sci-fi thriller, John David Washington plays a special agent who finds himself in a war against artificial intelligence after a nuclear explosion in Los Angeles. The film charts conclude with an absolute classic: “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” makes it to number 10 – 23 years after its first release. The film series probably still hasn't lost its magic.
Photo: Augsburger Allgemeine
Series fans know the problem: There are so many seasons that it's often hard to keep up. That could be exactly one reason why “The Rookie” made it to the top of the streaming charts. The series tells the story of John Nolan, who, after a drastic experience, decides to become a police officer – as the oldest recruit in the Los Angeles Police Department. With five seasons already available, the sixth airing in 2024 and a seventh slated for 2025, The Rookie has plenty to binge-watch.
Also popular – the drama series “Yellowstone” with Kevin Costner
The drama series “Yellowstone” takes viewers into the harsh wilderness of the American West. The focus is on the powerful Dutton family, who use all means to defend their huge ranch in Montana against numerous threats. With this haunting story and the return of western star Kevin Costner in the role of family head John Dutton, the series found great success.
In 2024, the fascination for political intrigue seemed unbroken – whether in reality or on the screen. “House of the Dragon” (4th place), the prequel to the acclaimed fantasy series “Game of Thrones”, tells of the brutal power struggle of the Targaryen dynasty. Or “Shōgun” (5th place), where the English sailor John Blackthorne finds himself in the middle of rival samurai and the intrigues of the Shōgun after a shipwreck in 17th century Japan. And then there is “The Boys” (6th place), a series that shows with a sharp satirical eye that even superheroes are anything but infallible.
The science fiction genre is also popular. In 7th place is “3 Body Problem”, the film adaptation of Cixin Liu’s Trisolaris trilogy. “Resident Alien” at number 9 is a little more humorous. Here, an alien crash-lands on Earth and takes on the identity of a small-town doctor. The series “True Detective” landed in between. Finally, “The Penguin”, a series that was a spin-off following on from the success of “The Batman” from 2022, was also convincing. The focus is on the dark world of betrayal, chaos and corruption that characterizes Gotham City – this time told from the perspective of the unscrupulous Oswald Cobblepot aka The Penguin.
