Aaron Eckhart’s neo-Western “Thieves Highway” has debuted at number one on Paramount+’s movie charts in 18 countries worldwide, SlashFilm reported, topping the streamer’s global rankings even as U.S. viewers must hunt the film down on Hulu and Disney+ instead.
The key detail is that the film, which arrived on Paramount+ internationally in early November, immediately reached the top spot in all 18 markets and is now ranked ninth in Canada—making it the platform’s top movie globally. For a low-budget B-movie that barely registered on critics’ radar, that is an unusual kind of victory — one that says as much about how global streaming audiences consume content as it does about the movie itself.
Three Rapid Takeaways on the Thieves Highway Surge
- “Thieves Highway” hit number one on Paramount+ in 18 countries simultaneously upon its early-November international debut, per FlixPatrol data cited by SlashFilm.
- The film is unavailable on Paramount+ in the United States; American viewers can stream it on Hulu and Disney+.
- Aaron Eckhart plays widowed Oklahoma livestock agent Frank Bennett, a lone lawman who tangles with Devon Sawa’s cattle-rustling gang and ends up fighting for his life.
Paramount+ Crowns an Unlikely Global Champion
Paramount+ has spent the last few years positioning itself as Hollywood’s home for neo-Westerns, thanks to Taylor Sheridan’s “Yellowstone” empire and its sprawling spin-offs. According to viewership tracker FlixPatrol, the Eckhart actioner debuted at number one across 18 international Paramount+ markets in early November and held the top worldwide spot through this week.
But the math tells a different story for American audiences. The film is not available on Paramount+ in the United States, so stateside viewers have to subscribe to Hulu or Disney+ to see what the rest of the world is bingeing. That split availability is a small but telling detail in the current streaming wars: the same title can be a global tentpole and a domestic afterthought depending entirely on licensing windows and regional rights deals.
Why the U.S. Is Locked Out of Its Own Hit
The rights fragmentation is not an accident — it is the standard machinery of international distribution. Vertical Entertainment released “Thieves Highway,” and international streaming rights landed with Paramount+, while domestic subscription rights sit with Hulu and Disney+. For viewers, the practical effect is simple: if you are in the U.S. and want to see the movie generating all the buzz, Paramount+ will not help you. Hulu and Disney+ will.
That matters because the film’s Rotten Tomatoes footprint is thin — no critic score at all, and an 18% audience score — so word of mouth and chart position are doing the heavy lifting. Global subscribers are clearly finding it anyway, with the underseen B-movie topping the charts in 18 markets at once.
Jesse V. Johnson’s Stunt-Director Pipeline Keeps Paying Off
“Thieves Highway” is directed by Jesse V. Johnson, a British stuntman-turned-filmmaker who has been making movies since the late ’90s while working as a stunt performer on “Planet of the Apes” (2001), “Mars Attacks!,” and “Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines.” Johnson belongs to a recognizable lineage: Chad Stahelski and David Leitch parlayed stunt work into “John Wick,” Sam Hargrave did the same with “Extraction,” and Johnson has built his own lane with Netflix’s “Debt Collector” films alongside Scott Adkins and “Chief of Station” with Eckhart.
The premise — a department of agriculture agent taking on a modern cattle-rustling operation alone in Oklahoma — is pure pulp, and the movie does not pretend otherwise.
The Numbers Behind the Streaming Surge
The chart data paints a compact picture of the film’s international run:
| Metric | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Rotten Tomatoes audience score | 18% | SlashFilm |
| U.S. availability | Hulu and Disney+ only (not Paramount+) | SlashFilm |
For a film nobody had heard of before early November, sitting at the top of a global chart is not nothing.
The movie is available to stream on Hulu and Disney+ in the U.S.
