Netflix's No. 1 Movie Right Now Is a 2017 Action-Thriller

A relatively obscure movie has taken over the Netflix charts this weekend – American Assassin starring Michael Keaton, Dylan O'Brien, Sanaa Lathan, Shiva Negar and Taylor Kitsch. The 2017 action thriller did not perform well at the box office and it got generally negative reviews when it came out, so it's a bit of a surprise to see it rise to the top on Netflix this weekend. Here's a look back at this deep cut as fans revisit it.

American Assassin is loosely based on a 2010 novel by the same name written by Vince Flynn, though screenwriters Stephen Schiff, Michael Finch, Edward Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz took plenty of creative liberties. It was directed by Michael Cuesta and its story focused on a young CIA agent named Mitch Rapp (O'Brien,) who teams up with a seasoned agent named Stan Hurley (Keaton) to prevent a nuclear disaster. The two are part of a secretive black-ops unit, infusing the story with some spy flavor and intrigue, though it is also heavy on fighting, shoot-outs and explosions.

The movie was made on a $33 million budget but made a total of $67.2 million at the box office. At the time, analysts felt it had simply lost out to Mother!, the surreal drama movie released in the same weekend, as well as It, which was still going strong a few weeks into its theatrical run at the time. At the same time, critics blamed the quality of American Assassin. At the time of this writing, it has an average rating of 4.7 out of 10 on Rotten Tomatoes, with only 34 percent of feedback counted as "positive."

"American Assassin hits a few easy targets, but without enough style or wit to truly bring its characters to life-or stand out in a crowded field of more compelling spy thrillers," reads the "critical consensus" on this movie. Meanwhile, fans were not happy either – especially those who hoped this would lead to adaptations of more Mitch Rapp novels. Flynn wrote 14 novels that involved Rapp before his death in 2013, and since then author Kyle Mills has continued the series, writing nine more books about Rapp. Fans were hoping this movie might lead to a series, and that this long-running saga might get the big screen treatment from start to finish.

As for why this movie is on the charts this weekend, there are a few educated guesses we can make. It may be due to interest in O'Brien, who appeared in the new movie Ponyboi which started a lot of buzz at Sundance last month. O'Brien was also recently cast to play Dan Aykroyd in SNL 1975 – a movie about the conception of Saturday Night Live and its first broadcast. At the same time, fans may simply be looking for a fun, easy-to-follow movie to put on during family gatherings leading up to the Super Bowl.

American Assassin is streaming now on Netflix. The original novel is available now in print, digital and audiobook formats.