This week’s crop of new movies across streaming services offers a chance for sometimes overlooked platforms beyond the biggest players like Netflix and Prime Video to shine. While the big boys sit out the next few days, Disney+, Starz and Paramount+ are picking up the slack instead.
Don’t worry, there’s still plenty worth watching this week, even without a buzzy new Netflix original. Highlights include the premium streaming release of “The Testament of Ann Lee,” a beautifully constructed historical epic that I’m shocked isn’t a major player at the Oscars. But I expect the lion’s share of streaming hours this week will go to “Zooptia 2” as it heads to Disney+.
I’ve combed through this week’s new movie release schedule and have picked out the most noteworthy additions across streaming services. And be sure to see our guide to the top new TV shows this week, if you’re in the mood for some compelling binge-watching right now.
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‘Dracula’ (PVOD)
If you enjoyed Netflix’s “Frankenstein” and are craving another dark gothic romance based on a literary classic, director Luc Besson has just what you’re craving: “Dracula.” This new spin on the world’s most iconic vampire is, naturally, based on Bram Stoker’s enduring classic novel, and stars Christoph Waltz as an occultist priest with Caleb Landry Jones in the eponymous role of Count Dracula.
Taking looser inspiration from the novel, rather than being a direct adaptation, Prince Vladimir (Landry Jones) is a 15th-century royal who denounces God after the death of his beloved wife. Becoming a feared creature of the night, he is condemned to wander for centuries in the hopes of being reunited with his lost love via reincarnation. When he meets solicitor Jonathan Harker (Ewens Abid), he believes at long last he’s found what he’s been searching for in the form of Harker’s wife, Mina (Zoë Bleu).
Watch on Prime Video (buy/rent) from March 10
‘The Testament of Ann Lee’ (PVOD)
Mona Fastvold and Brady Corbet, the writing team behind 2024’s butt-numbing but brilliant “The Brutalist,” team up once again for “The Testament of Ann Lee.” This time it’s Fastvold directing (Corbet directed “The Brutalist,” while the two share writing credits on both films), and the Norwegian filmmaker delivers an enchanting historical epic centered on, and soaring thanks to, Amanda Seyfried’s best-ever performances as the titular Ann Lee.
Lee was born in 18th century Manchester, England, and went on to found the Shaker Movement, an especially pious Christian sect. This dramatization of Lee’s life follows her from childhood until her death at 48 in Watervliet, New York. Seyfried is transformative as Lee, if you can forgive a slightly shaky Mancunian accent. I should warn any potential watchers that “The Testament of Ann Lee” is also a musical, so if you can’t stand characters breaking into song, then you might want to skip this one, but I encourage you to watch it.
Watch on Prime Video (buy/rent) from March 10
‘Zootopia 2’ (Disney+)
“Zootopia 2” made an eye-watering sum of money at the global box office, grossing more than $1.8 billion in total. Nevertheless, its release on Disney+ has come around quickly, and this animated sequel will no doubt be one of the most-watched movies on the House of Mouse’s streaming service in 2026. I suspect anybody with young viewers in this household is going to have “Zootopia 2” playing on repeat for the next several months.
Taking viewers back to a world like our own, but inhabited by anthropomorphic animals, “Zootopia 2” reunites viewers with odd-couple partners Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin) and Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman). Fresh off saving the city, they’re thrown into a new mystery when a sinister snake (Ke Huy Quan) arrives on the scene with a dastardly plan that could throw all of Zootopia into chaos. This new mission will test the pair’s bond like never before, and could see them go their separate ways for good.
Watch on Disney+ from March 11
‘Not Without Hope’ (Paramount Plus)
Paramount+’s new survival thriller sounds pretty intense, but it only gets more so when you consider that it’s based on a true story. It centers on a devastating boat accident that ultimately took the lives of two NFL players, Marquis Cooper and Corey Smith. It comes from director Joe Carnahan and stars Zachary Levi and Josh Duhamel. If you want a movie that will have you gripped from start to finish, “Not Without Hope” looks like a clear first choice.
In 2009, four friends head off on a fishing trip in the Gulf of Mexico. What was supposed to be an enjoyable day between friends turns into a nightmare when the boat capsizes. The four men are left stranded in open waters. As the US Coast Guard mounts a rescue mission, they face unimaginable hardship and obstacles, including towering waves, sharks, dehydration and hypothermia. It’s a race against time to find the men before it’s too late.
Watch on Paramount+ from March 13
‘Now You See Me: Now You Don’t’ (Starz)
The third entry in the “Now You See Me” franchise is the textbook definition of guilty pleasure watching. Sure, I could focus on the many clear issues, from the illogical moments to Rosamund Pike’s less-than-stellar South African accent, but I can’t help but love this franchise. It combines sleight-of-hand hijinks with an exciting heist setup. Plus, it brings back the entire original cast (sans Mark Ruffalo), and pairs them up with some fresh faces, too.
Set a decade after “Now You See Me 2,” the Four Horsemen, a group of globe-trotting magicians whose bag of tricks are basically superpowers, haven’t been seen for 10 years. When they suddenly remerge and team up with a new generation of illusionists, a dangerous plan is concocted to steal the world’s largest diamond from a South African dealer (Rosamund Pike), whose jewelry operation is a front for an international crime syndicate.
Watch on Starz from March 14
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