One is a modern-day horror film and the other a classic 1990s rom-com, but two of Netflix’s most-streamed movies of last week have one thing in common that has drawn viewers by the tens of millions: They star A-list actress Julia Roberts.

Julia Roberts has a drink with Richard Gere in a scene from the 1990 film “Pretty Woman.” GETTY IMAGES

KEY FACTS

“Pretty Woman,” a 1990 film starring Roberts and Richard Gere as an unlikely couple, made its debut on Netflix’s list of Top 10 most-streamed movies the week of Christmas with 8.4 million views to become the third most popular English language movie of the week, the company reported.

The movie isn’t new to the world or to the streamer, but its surge coincides with the standout success of Netflix original movie “Leave the World Behind,” a dramatic horror film where Roberts stars as the mother of a family whose beach vacation goes horribly wrong.

“Leave the World Behind” was released in November and has been among the top three most-watched English films on Netflix ever since, notching 120.9 million views from Dec. 4 to Dec. 31, the streamer reported.

In the week of Dec. 25 to Dec. 31, “Leave the World Behind” was the second most-popular English film of the week with 14.6 million views, followed by “Pretty Woman” in third (“Rebel Moon,” a new Zack Snyder film, was the most popular of the week with 34 million views).

BIG NUMBER

$178.4 million. That’s how much “Pretty Woman,” which had a $14 million budget, has grossed domestically since its 1990 release. That’s the equivalent of about $425.6 million in today’s dollars, more than what “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” made to become 2023’s third-highest grossing film ($381.3 million) but less than “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” in second place for the year with a $574.9 million domestic draw.

KEY BACKGROUND

Julia Roberts played the leading role in a spate of ultra successful films through the early 2000s, including “Pretty Woman,” “My Best Friend’s Wedding,” “Erin Brockovich” and “Ocean’s Eleven.” She starred in the film adaptation of “Eat Pray Love” in 2010 and last took on a major drama in 2018, when she played a mother struggling to help her drug addicted son in “Ben is Back.”

At the busiest point in her career, Roberts’ name was almost synonymous with box office success—dozens of her films have crossed the $100 million mark with her most commercially successful, “Ocean’s Eleven,” grossing $450.7 million at the worldwide box office in 2001 (about $783.1 million today). Roberts was reportedly paid $25 million for her role in “Leave the World Behind.”

Julia Roberts is seen on the movie set of “Leave The World Behind” at Sunken Meadow State Park on … [+]GC IMAGES

TANGENT

Netflix has often been responsible for a resurgence in popularity of older shows and movies. “Avatar: The Last Airbender,” originally released in 2005, enjoyed a pandemic resurgence on Netflix and shows like “The Office,” “Friends”—which plays prominently in “Leave the World Behind,” and where Roberts’ guest-starred—and “Schitt’s Creek” enjoyed much streaming popularity years after their natural end.

In some cases, the late popularity has led to remakes and spinoffs. “Gilmore Girls,” which first aired in 2000, caught fire after being added to Netflix in 2014 and the streamer created a four-part miniseries revival starring the original cast called “Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life” in 2016.

The legal drama “Suits,” which ended in 2019, spent four months at the top of Nielsen’s streaming charts after the show hit Netflix for the first time in July 2023 and the surge has NBCUniversal reportedly eyeing a new “Suits” series.