Ben Affleck's 'Taken' Meets 'House of Cards' Thriller Is Officially a Netflix Super-Hit

If you've lived long enough, you've now seen Ben Affleck find himself in an Armageddon-Deep Impact situation twice in his career. The epic sci-fi movies, which shared the same premise, famously debuted within a few months of each other in 1998. Both movies emerged as box-office hits and have developed strong cult followings. Few would've predicted that the same situation would repeat decades later, this time with Affleck having firmly established himself as a filmmaker. His new movie, Animals, debuted this past Friday, mere months after another movie with the exact same premise. Both films serve as remakes of Akira Kurosawa's psychological drama High and Low.

First out of the gate was Spike Lee's Apple TV original Highest 2 Lowest, starring Denzel Washington and Jeffrey Wright. The movie received critical acclaim, and is now sitting at a "Certified Fresh" 83% score on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes. Affleck's version, however, wasn't as well received. Unsurprisingly, it was able to defy mixed reviews and claim the number-one spot on the Netflix viewership charts immediately after its release on October 9. According to FlixPatrol, it's the new Netflix champion both domestically and worldwide.