A surprise Bill Murray comedy on Netflix is battling Encanto for top streaming spot

St. Vincent — (Image credit: Chernin Entertainment)

The streaming wars are weird. Just when you think a Netflix original like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre will reign atop the charts for a few weeks, a random Bill Murray comedy from 2014 comes along and becomes the most-streamed Netflix movie.

Nielsen has released its latest streaming numbers, and while Encanto still happily sits as the top overall movie on all major streaming services, St. Vincent – which stars Murray alongside Melissa McCarthy, Naomi Watts, and Chris O'Dowd – comes in second place, beating The Tinder Swindler and the reboot of Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Now, bear in mind that Nielsen's numbers are delayed, meaning these numbers are for the week of February 14 to February 20. Those dates are before The Adam Project reached Netflix and became the streamer's new number one movie. Also to note: this is US data, not UK – St. Vincent is not streaming on Netflix UK.

Most streamed movies

1. Encanto (Disney Plus), 1.22 billion minutes viewed
2. St. Vincent (Netflix), 411 million
3. The Twindler Swindler (Netflix), 334 million
4. Despicable Me 2 (Netflix), 304 million
5. Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2022 (Netflix), 303 million
6. Blackhat (Netflix), 253 million
7. Fistful of Vengeance (Netflix), 186 million
8. Despicable Me (Netflix), 182 million
9. Tall Girl 2 (Netflix), 172 million
10. Moana (Disney Plus), 168 million

In St. Vincent, Murray plays Vincent, a Vietnam vet who lives alone with his Persian furball of a cat, Felix. He drinks. He gambles. And he occasionally has sex, with a pregnant prostitute named Daka (Watts, with a thick Russian accent). That is, until Maggie (McCarthy), still recovering from a tough divorce, and her 12-year-old son Oliver (Jaeden Lieberher) move in next door. Cue laughs and romance.

The same streaming report also revealed the top shows for the same time period, with Inventing Anna comfortably sitting at the top of the original series list, followed by Love is Blind and Ozark, all of which are on Netflix. Amazon Prime Video comes in fourth with Reacher. Here's the full list of most-streamed original shows:

Most streamed original shows

Julia Garner in Inventing Anna — (Image credit: Netflix)

1. Inventing Anna (Netflix), 3.28 billion minutes
2. Love Is Blind (Netflix), 1.43 billion
3. Ozark (Netflix), 1.08 billion
4. Reacher (Prime Video), 935 million
5. Sweet Magnolias (Netflix), 898 billion
6. The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Prime Video), 499 million
7. Raising Dion (Netflix), 489 million
8. Space Force (Netflix), 438 million
9. All of Us Are Dead (Netflix), 340 million
10. The Book of Boba Fett (Disney Plus), 339 million

Finally, we have the most-streamed acquired shows. Again, Netflix reigns supreme with NCIS, Cocomelon, Criminal Minds, Grey's Anatomy, and Seinfeld – all comfort watches from years past. Check out the full list below.

Most streamed acquired shows

1. NCIS (Netflix), 856 million minutes
2. Cocomelon (Netflix), 661 million
3. Criminal Minds (Netflix), 647 million
4. Grey’s Anatomy (Netflix), 463 million
5. Seinfeld (Netflix), 414 million
6. Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (Disney Plus) 338 million
7. Supernatural (Netflix), 335 million
8 (tie). New Girl (Netflix), 335 million
9. Bluey (Disney Plus), 298 million
10. Downton Abbey (Netflix), 291 million

Those are the top movies and shows streaming – for more watch recommendations, be sure to check out our lists of the best Netflix movies and best Netflix shows available right now.

Jack Shepherd is the former Senior Entertainment Editor of GamesRadar. Jack used to work at The Independent as a general culture writer before specializing in TV and film for the likes of GR+, Total Film, SFX, and others. You can now find Jack working as a freelance journalist and editor.