16 Years Later, Tom Hardy’s Best Sci-Fi Movie Emerges as a Streaming Sleeper Hit

1 week ago 13

Published Jan 24, 2026, 2:00 PM EST

Adam Blevins began working in the entertainment industry in 2022 as a Staff Writer for Agents of Fandom, where he progressed to Senior Editor and interviewed talent from Marvel Studios, House of the Dragon, and Planet of the Apes. He joined Collider as a News Author in April 2024, was promoted to a Senior position in December 2024, and has written over 3,000 articles for the site, including exclusives relating to Avengers: Doomsday, The Penguin, Star Wars: Skeleton Crew, and more. He primarily writes about the latest box office numbers and the hottest movies and TV shows on streaming, while also covering superhero and sci-fi news. He has completed a set visit for The Chosen and even has several months of experience writing Gaming Features at ScreenRant. You can find him on X, LinkedIn, and Muckrack.

It’s been over 15 years since one of the most mind-bending sci-fi movies ever first hit theaters, but the film is still making waves on streaming. In 2010, Christopher Nolan released Inception, the epic following a thief who steals corporate secrets using dream-sharing technology. However, everything changes for him and his crew when they’re recruited for their most ambitious mission yet. Inception stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy, and Cillian Murphy, and the film is currently streaming on HBO Max and Cinemax in America. It’s also in the HBO Max top 10 globally in more than 10 countries around the world.

Inception is widely viewed as not only Tom Hardy’s best sci-fi movie, but also one of the most ambitious films ever made. This is reflected in the stellar Rotten Tomatoes scores of 87% from critics and 91% from audiences, and the film was also a smash hit at the box office. Warner Bros. footed a $160 million bill for the making of Inception, and its investment proved worthy when the film grossed $839 million at the global box office. Joseph Gordon-Levitt also has a vital role in Inception, along with another Christopher Nolan regular, Michael Caine.

Christopher Nolan released Inception only two years after he directed what many would call the greatest Batman movie ever, The Dark Knight. Two years after Inception, he returned to the world of DC to cap off his trilogy with The Dark Knight Rises, which also stars Inception’s Tom Hardy as the villainous Bane. Nolan has steered away from franchise films in the last 10 years, directing original epics like Dunkirk, Tenet, and most recently, Oppenheimer. But his next film may yet be his magnum opus.

When Does Christopher Nolan's ‘The Odyssey’ Come Out?

Christopher Nolan’s next movie, The Odyssey, will be released in theaters on July 17 later this year. The film is a live-action retelling of Homer’s classic tale, and it stars Matt Damon and Tom Holland as Odysseus and his son, Telemachus. Many other big stars, like Jon Bernthal, Robert Pattinson, Charlize Theron, Anne Hathaway, and Zendaya will also have roles in the film, and it’s expected to be one of the biggest movies of the year. The Odyssey could easily be Nolan’s first non-Batman movie to make over $1 billion at the box office.