Russell Crowe’s ‘Unabomber’ Tops Netflix, but Its Debut Lands Squarely in the Middle of the Pack

Netflix has a well-worn playbook when it comes to true crime, and the ‘Unabomber‘ Netflix debut is the latest proof it works. History has shown that if the streamer makes an original movie or show about a real-life criminal, the odds are good it lands somewhere in the top 10. The platform has also been pivoting toward mid-budget films rather than mega-budget tentpoles.

‘Unabomber’ arrived on September 25, directed by Janus Metz and starring Russell Crowe, Jacob Tremblay, Annabelle Wallis and Shailene Woodley. It dramatizes the life of Ted Kaczynski, and it looks beyond the FBI investigation to explore his early years at Harvard, where he was admitted at 16.

Now the first numbers are in. The film pulled in 16.4 million views in its first 3 days on Netflix, which is enough to land at No. 1 on the weekly English film chart. It also topped the charts in more than 70 territories, but the debut places it in the middle of the pack for 2026 movie releases.

The chart from What’s on Netflix ranks 20 movie debuts this year, and ‘Unabomber’ comes in 12th. ‘The Rip’ leads the list, followed by ‘War Machine’, ‘Apex’ and ‘Thrash’, all far ahead of Crowe’s thriller.

Closer to home, ‘Unabomber’ sits just behind ‘People We Meet on Vacation’ at 17.2 million views and just ahead of ‘Swapped’ at 15.5 million. ‘The Last House’ and ‘The Whisper Man’ both debuted well above it, and both are on the cusp of cracking 100 million views despite mediocre critical response.

What’s on Netflix described the launch as middling and noted that September’s biggest movie did not deliver a huge debut despite its all-star cast. Whether week 2 brings a rebound or a steep drop remains to be seen.

The film runs on two timelines. In the Harvard storyline, Tremblay plays the young Kaczynski, a math prodigy who takes part in ethically questionable psychological experiments run by professor Henry Murray, played by Crowe, and his collaborator Christiana Morgan, played by Wallis.

In the 1990s timeline, Woodley plays FBI agent Joanne Miller, who is on the hunt for the Unabomber. Netflix describes the film as inspired by true events rather than a direct historical recreation.

Metz has been open about why he cast Tremblay. The director said in Netflix Tudum that he had seen the actor in ‘Sovereign’ and found him “absolutely spellbinding.” The movie is also Crowe’s first starring role in a Netflix film.

Reviews have been rough. The Hollywood Reporter found the film’s take on Kaczynski’s radicalization basic and obvious, and said Tremblay and Crowe needed more chances to go head to head. Variety’s review was similarly unimpressed, judging the movie a formulaic Netflix true-crime retread.

First trailer for ‘UNABOMBER’, starring Jacob Tremblay as the Unabomber.

The film follows Ted Kaczynski's transformation into the domestic terrorist known as the Unabomber.

Releasing September 25 on Netflix. pic.twitter.com/RzfbGfv9Gt

— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) August 27, 2026

Audiences have not warmed to it either. The film ties with 1995’s ‘Virtuosity’ as Crowe’s 3rd-lowest Rotten Tomatoes audience score, with viewers also pointing to the film’s historical inaccuracy, including a gender-swapped FBI character. The poor reception also dents some of the goodwill Crowe earned the previous week with ‘The Weight’, his best-reviewed movie in nearly 3 decades.

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