Paramount’s New Yellowstone Meets John Wick Western Thriller Is Officially The Biggest Movie In The World
Nick Bythrow is a Lead Writer for ScreenRant. He has been writing for the site since September 2022. He graduated from Hampshire College in 2022, where he triple majored in Journalism, Communications, and Media Studies. When he's not writing about TV and movies for ScreenRant and his blog, Frayed Branches, Nick is penning speculative fiction and poetry on Amazon. He lives outside Boston, Massachusetts.
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Paramount's new Yellowstone meets John Wick Western thriller has officially become the biggest movie in the world according to new data. Action thriller movies like the John Wick franchise have remained popular in the cultural eye, with a core part of their success stemming from the high-octane action they provide. Likewise, Westerns such as Yellowstone and its spinoffs have seen a boost in recent years, the genre beginning a resurgence, mostly on the small screen. But that hasn't stopped Western movies from coming out that have embraced the genre.
One of these movies is the 2025 Western thriller Thieves Highway. The crime film stars Aaron Eckhart as Frank Bennett, a lawman who leads a criminal investigation into stolen cattle being dragged out into the middle of nowhere by an unknown party. Determined to get to the bottom of the truth, he begins peeling back layers to what's going on. Soon enough, he becomes the only force between a group of criminals and where they're trying to take the cattle, leading to an action-heavy conflict in the process.
Thieves Highway Is Making A Major Stand On Paramount+
Now, Thieves Highway is taking a stand on Paramount+, very quickly becoming the biggest movie in the world on the streaming platform. According to data from November 4, 2026, Thieves Highway is the Number 1 movie in the world on Paramount+. This Western film has managed to climb to the Number 1 spot in 18 individual countries as well, including Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Panama, Slavador, Uruguay, and Venezuela. The swiftness of its success indicates the Western has found a home with a global audience.
It's also a rather stark contrast to when the movie came out last year, and the reception it received. According to Rotten Tomatoes, reviews for Thieves Highway from audiences put the movie at a paltry 18% based on over 50 ratings. While the action earned some praise, many audience members were disappointed by the story and the quality of the acting. This didn't stop a handful of positive critic reviews from forming around the movie. This, coupled with how it embraces the Western genre, signifies many have taken a liking to the movie over time.
Paramount+ Is Becoming The Ultimate Home For Western Fans
The success of Thieves Highway is reflective of how quickly Paramount+ has become a core home for Western fans thanks to how well the genre has performed across movies and TV shows. This is especially the case for ongoing Sheridan series like Dutton Ranch and Landman, both of which have proven that unique takes on the Western genre make for some very compelling, modern stories that people want to tune in for.
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The same can be said about Thieves Highway, which utilizes tropes of the genre to deliver an expected but still entertaining story set within a Western backdrop. Its global success showcases how well Paramount can perform with the genre on a larger scale, even if most of its stories are set within the United States. The want for such stories means there could be even more success for the genre in the future too.
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