Ryan Gosling has had a great career filled with huge success stories. 2026 reminded everyone just how big a star he is thanks to the release of Project Hail Mary, Amazon MGM’s $683 million sci-fi book adaptation directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller. Headlining a major blockbuster like this goes down as one of his biggest career accomplishments so far.
It also marks a key win for Gosling amidst an up-and-down 2020s. Project Hail Mary joins Barbie as a bona fide box office hit for the actor during this stretch. The latter not only saw him co-star in a $1.4 billion hit, but it also brought Gosling his third Oscar nomination after his hilarious turn as Ken. However, this decade also saw his action movie, The Fall Guy, falter at the box office despite great reviews.
He also lent his talents to Netflix during the last six years. In 2022, he headlined an R-rated action movie based on a book series by Mark Greaney. The film was planned to be the first installment of a long-running franchise and paired Gosling with co-stars like Chris Evans and Ana de Armas. And when it came out, it became one of Netflix’s most-watched movies ever.
High Octane · No Brakes How Well Do You Know Action Movies? “Yippee-ki-yay… let’s see what you’ve got.”
💥ExplosionsWalk away, don’t look back
🏎Car ChasesFloor it
🥊Fist FightsNo mercy
🚁StuntsGet to the chopper
🔥MayhemBurn it all down
01
In the 1988 classic Die Hard, NYPD cop John McClane spends Christmas Eve picking off Hans Gruber’s heavily armed crew one by one inside a single Los Angeles high-rise. What is the name of that skyscraper?
✓ Direct hit! Nakatomi Plaza — the headquarters of the fictional Nakatomi Corporation where McClane (Bruce Willis) is trapped. It was filmed in the real Fox Plaza in Century City, which was still under construction at the time. McClane’s barefoot dash across broken glass remains one of the genre’s defining moments.
✗ Missed! The answer is Nakatomi Plaza. The film was shot in the real Fox Plaza in Century City (then Fox’s own HQ), which is likely why “Fox Tower” sounds plausible — but on screen it’s the fictional Nakatomi Plaza where Hans Gruber’s crew holds the Christmas party hostage.
02
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) introduced the shape-shifting T-1000, a groundbreaking villain that could melt, reform, and morph into anyone. What futuristic material is the T-1000 made of?
✓ Direct hit! The T-1000 is made of “mimetic poly-alloy” — essentially liquid metal — letting it flow through bars, sprout blades, and impersonate its victims. Robert Patrick’s eerily calm performance and the era-defining morphing CGI made it cinema’s scariest robot. The T-800 (Arnold), by contrast, is metal under living tissue.
✗ Missed! The answer is liquid metal (“mimetic poly-alloy”). That’s what lets the T-1000 pour through prison bars, reform from a shattered frozen state, and mimic anyone it touches. The older T-800 played by Arnold is the one with a hard metal endoskeleton under flesh — the T-1000 is a whole new threat.
03
Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) was a near-non-stop desert car chase praised for its practical stunts, winning six Oscars. Which director returned to the franchise he created decades earlier to make it?
✓ Direct hit! George Miller created Mad Max with Mel Gibson back in 1979 and returned 36 years later to direct Fury Road, with Tom Hardy as Max and Charlize Theron as Furiosa. The film leaned on real vehicles and stunts in the Namibian desert. Snyder, Villeneuve, and Bigelow are all acclaimed — but the Wasteland belongs to Miller.
✗ Missed! The answer is George Miller — the Australian filmmaker (and former doctor) who launched the series in 1979 and came back to direct Fury Road. Zack Snyder, Denis Villeneuve, and Kathryn Bigelow are all major action/sci-fi directors, but none made Mad Max.
04
In John Wick (2014), Keanu Reeves plays a retired hitman pulled back into a brutal underworld war after Russian gangsters break into his home. What act ignites his legendary rampage of revenge?
✓ Direct hit! They kill his dog — a beagle puppy named Daisy, a final gift from his late wife — and steal his vintage Mustang. That cruelty unleashes “Baba Yaga,” the boogeyman hitman, on the entire criminal underworld. The deceptively simple revenge hook launched one of modern action’s biggest franchises.
✗ Missed! The answer is they kill his dog. The puppy, Daisy, was the last gift from John’s dying wife — so when Iosef’s crew beats John and kills the dog (also stealing his car), it triggers the full “Baba Yaga” rampage. It’s the purest revenge setup in modern action cinema.
05
The Mission: Impossible franchise is famous for its star performing his own death-defying stunts — scaling the Burj Khalifa, clinging to a plane at takeoff, and a HALO jump. Who plays super-spy Ethan Hunt?
✓ Direct hit! Tom Cruise has played Ethan Hunt since 1996, famously insisting on doing his own stunts — hanging off the Burj Khalifa, strapped to an Airbus A400M, and performing a real HALO skydive. Matt Damon is Jason Bourne, Keanu is John Wick, and Statham headlines the Transporter and Expendables films.
✗ Missed! The answer is Tom Cruise. Matt Damon plays a different super-spy (Jason Bourne), Keanu Reeves is John Wick, and Jason Statham has his own action stable. Cruise’s real, no-CGI stunt work — the plane, the building, the skydive — is the M:I series’ signature.
06
In The Matrix (1999), Morpheus offers Neo a choice between two pills: one returns him to blissful ignorance, the other reveals the harsh truth of reality. Which pill does Neo swallow to wake up?
✓ Direct hit! Neo takes the red pill to learn the truth — that humanity is enslaved in a simulation by machines. The blue pill would have let him wake up in bed believing “whatever you want to believe.” “Taking the red pill” has since become a permanent piece of pop-culture shorthand.
✗ Missed! The answer is the red pill. Morpheus’ line is the key: the blue pill ends the story safely in bed, but the red pill shows “how deep the rabbit hole goes.” Neo chooses red, unplugs from the Matrix, and the phrase has outlived the film as a cultural metaphor.
07
Ridley Scott’s Gladiator (2000) won Best Picture and gave us the roaring line “Are you not entertained?!” Which actor took home the Best Actor Oscar for playing the betrayed general-turned-gladiator Maximus?
✓ Direct hit! Russell Crowe won the 2001 Best Actor Oscar as Maximus Decimus Meridius, the Roman general enslaved and forced to fight for his freedom — and his revenge on the emperor Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix). Gerard Butler later anchored 300, but the sands of the Colosseum belong to Crowe.
✗ Missed! The answer is Russell Crowe, who won Best Actor for Maximus. Gerard Butler led the similar-spirited 300, Mel Gibson made Braveheart, and Brad Pitt fought at Troy — all sword-and-sandal adjacent, but Gladiator’s Maximus is Crowe.
08
The Fast & Furious saga grew from a street-racing crime film into a globe-trotting blockbuster series obsessed with “family.” Vin Diesel anchors it as the gravel-voiced crew leader — what is the character’s name?
✓ Direct hit! Vin Diesel plays Dominic “Dom” Toretto, the loyalty-obsessed leader whose mantra is family. Brian O’Conner was the late Paul Walker’s undercover-cop-turned-ally, Luke Hobbs is Dwayne Johnson’s lawman, and Han Lue (Sung Kang) is the snack-loving fan favorite. But the wheel belongs to Dom.
✗ Missed! The answer is Dominic Toretto. Brian O’Conner is Paul Walker’s character, Luke Hobbs is Dwayne Johnson’s, and Han Lue is Sung Kang’s. Vin Diesel’s Dom — and his relentless “family” speeches — has been the heart of the franchise since 2001.
Mission Complete · Stand Down Your Action Hero Rank
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One-man army — or first to get caught in the crossfire?
Directed by the Russo brothers of MCU fame, The Gray Man lit up Netflix’s charts when it came out four years ago. It earned 139.3 million views over its first 91 days of release. That was the 5th highest viewership total for a Netflix original movie at the time, but four years later, The Gray Man is at grave risk of falling out of the top 10 entirely soon.
Netflix’s Hit 2026 Animated Movie May Soon Surpass The Gray Man’s Viewership
Ryan Gosling holding onto a train in The Gray Man
Over the last few years, The Gray Man has moved down the top 10 chart, where it now barely holds on in 10th place, after being passed by Leave the World Behind, Carry-On, Back in Action, KPop Demon Hunters, and, most recently, War Machine. Now, Netflix’s 2026 animated movie Swapped could be next.
Since its release on the streamer in May, the fantasy adventure, featuring Michael B. Jordan and Juno Temple in the cast, has received a steady stream of views. Swapped currently has a confirmed 129.9 million views after nine weeks. That puts it in second place among Netflix’s 10 most-watched movies of 2026. But it also puts Swapped less than 10 million views away from cracking the top 10 all-time.
Rank
Movie
Total Views
1)
KPop Demon Hunters
325.1 million
2)
Red Notice
230.9 million
3)
Carry-On
172.1 million
4)
Don’t Look Up
171.4 million
5)
The Adam Project
157.6 million
6)
Bird Box
157.4 million
7)
Back in Action
147.2 million
8)
Leave the World Behind
143.4 million
9)
War Machine
139.9 million
10)
The Gray Man
139.3 million
This would come at The Gray Man‘s expense, and the animated movie’s current trajectory suggests it will happen. Swapped is still collecting over 4 million views a week at this juncture. It has another four weeks to rack up views that can count towards Netflix’s all-time chart. An average of 2.4 million views during this stretch would be enough for Swapped to knock The Gray Man out once and for all.
The Gray Man Falling Out Of Netflix’s Top 10 Changes Its Legacy
The likelihood of The Gray Man losing a place in the top 10 is a tough turn of events for what is one of Netflix’s most expensive movies ever. The movie already failed to really connect with audiences beyond the initial wave of interest that came with its debut. But the recognition that comes with being one of Netflix’s most-watched movies of all-time has given The Gray Man some sustained relevance.
Once it falls out of the top 10, whether it happens with Swapped or another title later on, it could become completely forgotten, a relic of Netflix’s pursuit of making blockbusters for streaming and the disappointing results that some of the biggest ones brought.
With the franchise aspirations already dead, The Gray Man losing this historical standing will just make it look like a bigger misfire for Netflix. It may have had some short-term success and records, but Gosling’s action movie may now just get lost in the vast library of options Netflix has.
