A big part of the Netflix machine is that it functions like a version of Facebook’s “Memories” feature for movies and TV shows. The service often throws older media at an audience that’s had more than enough time to forget it, leading to the phenomenon we now know as the Netflix Renaissance. We saw it with the forgotten fantasy epic “Warcraft” that topped the Netflix movie charts earlier this year, and we saw it again when Netflix breathed new life into the 2008 Keanu Reeves crime thriller “Street Kings.”

Now it’s Denzel Washington’s turn. In addition to his role as wealthy power broker Macrinus in Ridley Scott’s Gladiator II, a previous collaboration between the acclaimed actor and the respected filmmaker is currently climbing the Netflix charts. In the 2007 crime thriller American Gangster, Washington played real-life criminal Frank Lucas – a Harlem heroin boss whose ambition leads him to build a drug empire that Macrinus himself would be proud of.

Naturally, this combination of star and director made for a well-received effort that grossed $267 million worldwide against a $100 million budget. As you might expect, critics particularly praised Denzel’s performance, and the film currently has an 81% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. While it may not be as highly regarded as other classics of the gangster genre like The Godfather or Goodfellas, there’s no doubt that this was a strong effort from Scott. While Netflix users have proven that they’ll watch just about anything, the resurrection of American Gangster shows that there’s still hope.

American Gangster was released on Netflix on September 16, 2024, and stormed the charts three days later. FlixPatrol, a website that tracks streaming service viewership, shows that the film was the seventh most-watched movie in the U.S. on September 19 (suggesting that Denzel Washington’s crime boss is planning a Netflix takeover 17 years after his debut).

For a full Netflix renaissance to happen, the film would normally have to debut higher and much earlier on the charts. Still, there have been cases where these forgotten films have slowly and steadily climbed the rankings, so American Gangster may yet reach the streamer’s top spot. For that to happen, though, Denzel will have to compete with McG’s Netflix film Uglies, which is currently at number one and tells the story of a teenager and her missing friend in a futuristic dystopia. You might think that a critically derided adaptation of a young adult novel (“Uglies” has a rating of just 15% on RT) is no match for Frank Lucas, but anything can happen in the streaming age, so we’ll have to wait and see.

Otherwise, Frank will have to contend with killer action thriller Rebel Ridge, which currently sits at number two and has single-handedly proven that there is hope that streaming movies can be more than the cinematic equivalent of junk food. Both Uglies and Rebel Ridge are holding their respective positions in the charts worldwide, and not just in the US, so American Gangster faces some stiff competition. But if anyone can do it, it’s surely Denzel and Ridley Scott.