
Netflix’s biggest show of 2026 has already surpassed the popularity of Stranger Things 5. The final season of Stranger Things, which was highly anticipated, recently concluded after being released in three parts over the past six weeks. The story wrapped up with a two-hour finale that premiered on New Year’s Eve.
The fifth season of Stranger Things quickly became a hit for Netflix, immediately topping the global charts with all its newly released episodes. But just days after the season finale, another show has taken its place as the most popular title – a brand new mystery series created by a well-known filmmaker.
Netflix’s newest mystery series, Harlan Coben’s Run Away, has taken the number one spot, surpassing the highly anticipated fifth and final season of Stranger Things.
The full U.S. Netflix top 10 shows are as follows:
- Run Away
- Stranger Things 5
- Found
- Emily in Paris
- Land of Sin
- Mark Rober’s Crunchlabs
- Dave Chappelle’s The Unstoppable
- Members Only Palm Beach
- The Beast In Me
- Ricky Gervais Mortality
The new series, Run Away, launched on January 1, 2026, right after the final episode of Stranger Things. Although Stranger Things 5 initially remained the most popular show, Run Away has quietly climbed the charts and taken the lead in the United States. Currently, Stranger Things 5 is still the global frontrunner, but Run Away is performing better in important regions like the U.S., Australia, and Canada.
Run Away is a recently released British miniseries adapted from Harlan Coben’s 2019 novel of the same name. The story follows a father’s desperate search for his missing daughter, and his investigation leads him to unexpected discoveries. (You can find more details about the plot here).
Danny Brocklehurst, who created the hit series Fool Me Once, is behind this new show, which features James Nesbitt as the lead, supported by well-known actors Minnie Driver and Alfred Enoch.
What Does Stranger Things 5’s Early Fall Mean?

Wow, it’s crazy! The Stranger Things 5 finale just dropped on Netflix a few days ago, and already something else has taken its place at the top of the charts. As someone who’s been following the Duffer Brothers’ show since the beginning, I definitely didn’t expect that to happen so quickly!
For a long time, Stranger Things has been a huge success for Netflix, consistently delivering popular seasons. Many expected the final season to stay at the top of Netflix’s most-watched list for weeks, but that hasn’t happened.
Just four days after its release, the new season of Stranger Things is being outperformed by Run Away in major markets like the U.S. and Canada. This isn’t necessarily due to the quality of the show – which fans have been discussing a lot – but rather a combination of other factors.
The main reason “Stranger Things” quickly fell from the top spot likely comes down to how much new content was available compared to “Run Away.” While everyone’s watching the fifth season of “Stranger Things,” only one new episode – the finale – was released recently. That’s in contrast to “Run Away,” which added eight new episodes.
Compared to Stranger Things, which released just two hours of new episodes, Runaway offers a much longer experience with eight hours of content. This allows fans who have watched both shows to spend significantly more time enjoying Runaway.
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2026-01-06 01:35