Jake Gyllenhaal’s $552M Sci-Fi Disaster Movie Becomes Netflix Global Hit 20 Years Later

The Day After Tomorrow has found success on Netflix’s global top 10 after 20 years. Hitting theaters in 2004, director Roland Emmerich’s The Day After Tomorrow chronicles the onset of a devastating new planetary Ice Age, following a paleoclimatologist as he treks from Washington D.C. to New York City to rescue his stranded son. The film, which stars Dennis Quaid, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Emmy Rossum, was a box office hit, grossing $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 viewed and 5.6 million views in total. Though The Day After Tomorrow falls short of titles like Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw (2019), The Deliverance (2024), and Into the Fire: The Lost Daughter (2024), it beats Edge 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 & Audiences At The Time

The Day After Tomorrow became a success quickly upon its release. With an estimated budget of $125 million, the film could have been looking 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 lackluster 45% critics’ score and 50% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.

Still, though, 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’s evidently a comfort and watchability factor that helps to make it a go-to choice on streaming. What’s more, stars like Gyllenhaal and Quaid remain popular two decades later, and it’s possible that the success of projects like Presumed Innocent (2024-) for the former and Reagan (2024) for the latter have contributed to The Day After Tomorrow‘s streaming success.

Our Take On The Day After Tomorrow’s Netflix Popularity

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 it stand the test of time. What’s more, the film, despite being far-fetched in many respects, continues to feel timely 20 years later due to the ongoing and escalating climate crisis.

While there are smarter and more realistic disaster movies, The Day After Tomorrow remains a seminal entry in the genre, especially for audiences of a certain age, myself included. Due to its cast, story, effects, and the nostalgia factor, it’s very likely that Emmerich’s film will continue to be a hit on streaming in the years to come.

Source: Netflix