A conspiracy thriller that was right to be paranoid nukes the Netflix rankings

Jack Ryan has been a regular fixture of our screens for over 30 years, and even though five actors have played the Tom Clancy creation in live-action so far, the debate over who did it best typically boils down to a straight shootout between Alec Baldwin and Harrison Ford. That means Ben Affleck, Chris Pine, and John Krasinski are battling for second, but the former might have the edge at the moment based on how The Sum of All Fears is performing on Netflix.

As per FlixPatrol, the 2002 conspiracy thriller has been making its way up the rankings all week, and can currently be found as one of the 10 most-watched titles in an impressive 21 countries dotted across three continents, good enough to see it land as the 13th-top title on the global watch-list.

It might have something to do with the story, too, given that the plot revolves around heightened political tensions between the United States and Russia that are as timely as ever, with the latter’s president dying under mysterious circumstances. Throw in a couple of missing scientists and the threat of a nuclear bomb being unleashed on American soil, and Affleck’s rookie analyst faces one hell of a task in trying to prevent World War III.

The Sum of All Fears was a surprisingly solid hit 20 years ago, where it managed to come within touching distance of netting $200 million at the global box office, even if it couldn’t hold a candle to predecessors The Hunt for Red October, Patriot Games, and Clear and Present Danger from a critical perspective.