Russell Crowe’s R-Rated Mystery Thriller Finds New Life As A Streaming Sensation

Published Oct 6, 2026, 8:00 PM EDT

Adam Bentz is a senior news writer at ScreenRant, where he has authored nearly 5,000 articles, including features and lists. He studied creative writing and English with a concentration in screenwriting at Southern New Hampshire University and interned as a writer/journalist for The Borgen Project, an influential organization that fights global poverty.

However, one of his proudest achievements is editing a Leonardo DiCaprio freakout compilation that has over 150K views on YouTube. Adam also fancies himself an amateur film critic on his personal website.

At the turn of the century, Russell Crowe was one of Hollywood's brightest stars, winning an Oscar for Gladiator (2000) and earning another nomination for A Beautiful Mind (2001), both Best Picture winners. These days, Crowe has found a second act as a streaming king, starring in smaller movies that make little noise at the box office but perform well on streaming platforms.

One such example is Sleeping Dogs, which has found new life as a streaming sensation. The 2024 crime thriller stars Russell Crowe as a former homicide detective suffering from memory loss who must unravel a gruesome murder, but the investigation soon leads him toward disturbing secrets buried deep in his forgotten past. Karen Gillan (the MCU, Doctor Who) also stars.

Crowe's Sleeping Dogs Reawakens As A Paramount+ Hit

Over two years after its theatrical release, Sleeping Dogs is No. 8 on the Top 10 movies on Paramount+ in the United States for today, October 6. It ranks below One Mile: Chapter One, One Mile: Chapter Two, Grizzly Night, Jackass: Best and Last, The Get Out, Tuner, Rush Hour, and above Grumpy Old Men and An Unfinished Life.

This past January, Sleeping Dogs previously ranked No. 9 on Paramount+, finishing below titles like Top Gun: Maverick, Fighting, Wander, Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning, The Running Man (1987), Regretting You, Roofman, The Running Man (2025), and above The Contractor.

This is despite Sleeping Dogs' reviews, which resulted in a 43% Rotten Tomatoes score, with critics claiming that it fails to give Russell Crowe a mystery worth sinking his teeth into, leaving the movie struggling to stand on its own. It also made little noise at the box office, grossing just $2.1 million, though it does have a 79% audience score.

Crowe Has Been One Of The Biggest Names On Streaming This Year

Credit: IPA/INSTARimages

This isn't even this year's first instance of Sleeping Dogs appearing in the Top 10 movies on Paramount+, as it previously ranked No. 9 this past January. Otherwise, Crowe has had several streaming successes this year – with Gladiator (Pluto TV), 3:10 to Yuma (HBO Max), and Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (Apple TV) ranking on different services' Top 10 charts.

Currently, Crowe has Unabomber dominating Netflix's charts, and The Get Out, which quickly climbed to the No. 1 movie on Paramount+ in the United States last month. Now, with Sleeping Dogs, Russell Crowe may have one of his biggest streaming comebacks yet.