Gerard Butler is one of the biggest movie stars in Hollywood, and he’s the undisputed king of movies right now. After breaking into acting in the late 1990s, Butler has experienced nearly three decades of success in the business in a variety of ways. He was part of big franchises like Tomb Raider and James Bond early on in his career before getting a major role in the animated How To Train Your Dragon movies and headlining his own action series with the Has Fallen movies.
Butler has navigated bold action movies, like Zack Snyder’s 300, and romantic comedies, like The Ugly Truth, in addition to a variety of other standalone projects and franchise starters. This has helped turn him into a recognizable name for Hollywood to lean on. His movies have grossed over $5 billion at the box office and have repeatedly been the biggest in the world at the time of their release. It’s even common to see a movie starring Gerard Butler jump to the top of viewing charts on various streaming services. Both are currently true for him now.
Gerard Butler Is The Star Of The Biggest Movie In Theaters & On Netflix Right Now
He’s Dominating The Box Office & Streaming At Once
Right now, Gerard Butler has the number one movie in theaters, How To Train Your Dragon, and on Netflix, Plane. The former is Universal and DreamWorks’ live-action remake of the 2010 animated film. Butler reprises his role as Stoick the Vast, the father of the film’s lead, Hiccup. How To Train Your Dragon‘s box office opening weekend was mᴀssive, making $84.6 million domestically and $197.6 million worldwide in just three days. It is unquestionably the biggest movie at the box office at the moment.
At the same time, Gerard Butler’s 2023 action movie Plane is dominating Netflix charts. It is the most-streamed тιтle presently across movies and TV. That has come after knocking Tyler Perry’s Straw down to number two. While it’s unclear exactly how many people are watching Plane currently, its ability to jump to the top of Netflix’s charts is impressive. Considering the 2023 action film only made $47 million at the box office, the Netflix release could be the first time most are getting a chance to see one of Butler’s more recent films.
Gerard Butler’s Entire Career Has Led To This Crowning Moment
He’s Navigated Two Sides Of Hollywood Well
How To Train Your Dragon‘s dominance in theaters and Plane‘s success on Netflix make Gerard Butler the king of movies. No one else can presently claim to be part of the movie that the majority of people are seeing in theaters and the top choice on the world’s biggest streaming service. His involvement in both is directly connected to their individual performances.
Retaining someone of Butler’s box office pedigree did help
Butler has proven himself to be a box office draw in many areas, and the familiarity of his version of Stoick provides one less change for How To Train Your Dragon‘s live-action remake. He’s one of the best parts of the film, so the excitement to see him bring the Viking chief to life in a new way was clearly there. But, he’s also not the sole reason How To Train Your Dragon is dominating the box office. That probably would’ve happened even if Stoick had been recast. Retaining someone of Butler’s box office pedigree did help, though.
Plane was not made with streaming success in mind, but the movie’s ability to connect with audiences at home is largely due to its star. Gerard Butler has previously seen his Has Fallen movies do very well on Netflix. It was only two months ago that the actor saw one of his other action movies, Geostorm, find new popularity on Netflix. Even though he isn’t making movies directly for streaming services or Netflix, Butler has proven to be someone who can make people choose his movie among the glut of options available on streaming.
HTTYD & Plane’s Simultaneous Success Continues Gerard Butler’s Great 2025
Another One Of His Movies Did Well
It is worth noting that Butler has already been on a H๏τ streak in 2025 even before his current success stories. He already starred in Den of Thieves 2: Pantera for Lionsgate. The action sequel had relatively big box office expectations after the first movie made $80 million. It fell short of the original, making $57.2 million, but it did open at #1 at the box office. It then found more success when it was released on Netflix. Den of Thieves 2 immediately went to number one and found new fans. A third film is already in development.
After having a single movie be the biggest at the box office and on Netflix, Butler now has two different movies claiming those тιтles. He’s undoubtedly the king of movies right now no matter if people are looking for something to watch in theaters or on streaming. It could even get better for Gerard Butler from here, as How To Train Your Dragon could break his highest grossing movie record and become a streaming hit in its own right later on.
