Blade Runner 2049 has climbed to the No. 1 spot on HBO Max's global movie chart after being added to the streaming service, giving Denis Villeneuve's 2017 sci-fi sequel a second life it never quite found at the box office. The film starred Ryan Gosling as Officer K, a new "blade runner" who uncovers a secret threatening the fragile balance between humans and artificial replicants, drawing him towards Harrison Ford's original protagonist, Rick Deckard. Its streaming success marks a striking turnaround for a movie that struggled commercially on release but has since been reassessed as a modern classic.

Blade Runner 2049 took only $277 million worldwide against a $150 million budget in 2017, yet it holds an 88% critics' score on Rotten Tomatoes, praised for its visuals and score. It serves as a sequel to Ridley Scott's 1982 original, which is currently free to watch on YouTube, and its renewed popularity comes ahead of Prime Video's forthcoming spin-off series, Blade Runner 2099, as well as Gosling's continuing run of space-themed roles, including the upcoming Star Wars: Starfighter.