Clint Eastwood’s 2018 crime drama The Mule has climbed into Netflix’s top 10 movies this week, reaching the number 7 spot. The film stars Eastwood himself as Earl Stone, an octogenarian war veteran and gardener who becomes a drug mule transporting cocaine on behalf of an Illinois cartel. It’s based on the true story of Leo Sharp, who became known as the world’s oldest drug mule after he was caught carrying 200 kilograms of cocaine across Michigan on behalf of the Sinaloa Cartel, in 2011.

As well as playing its lead character, Clint Eastwood directed The Mule, which became the first Clint Eastwood movie since 1997’s Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil to star his daughter, director and actor Alison Eastwood. She plays her real-life father’s daughter in the movie, too, although Iris Stone is estranged from her father Earl for most of The Mule’s 116-minute runtime. The movie is Alison Eastwood’s most recent performance on the big screen, since she retired from acting back in 2014. It also features performances from Bradley Cooper, Andy García, Laurence Fishburne and Dianne Wiest.

The Mule Is Now A Top-10 Streaming Hit

It’s Up To Number 7 On Netflix

Returning to Netflix at the start of May 2025 after first appearing on the platform in 2023, The Mule reached the streaming giant’s top 10 in the United States on Monday, May 12. It becomes the latest Clint Eastwood film to start trending on Netflix, after his 2014 biopic American Sniper surged up the streaming charts last month.

Eastwood has continued his prolific career as a director since The Mule, making Richard Jewell, Cry Macho, and Juror #2 in the seven years since it was released. While there have been rumors that Juror #2 could well be Eastwood’s last movie, the director himself hasn’t confirmed them.

Our Take On The Mule Being A Netflix Hit

The True Story Of The World’s Oldest Drug Mule Has Piqued Viewers’ Interest

It’s no wonder The Mule has been a hit with Netflix viewers this month, likely for the same reason it generated a decent box-office return when it was originally released. The crime drama is one of Clint Eastwood’s best movies of the past 15 years, not the least thanks to its true-story inspiration, which feels tailor-made for adaptation by the veteran actor-director.

Just like the movie’s protagonist Earl Stone, the real-life Leo Sharp was a horticulturist who’d previously served in the US Army during the Second World War, and was in his 80s when he was approached by representatives of a Mexican drug cartel. The cartel was aware that Sharp’s business was facing financial difficulties and preyed on his desperate need for another source of income.

After Sharp’s arrest in 2011, The New York Times published an interview with him, which became the basis for a movie deal when the production company Imperative Entertainment bought the rights to his true story. Eastwood’s role in the project as director and lead actor was announced at the start of 2018, and The Mule was released in theaters just 11 months later.