Ben Affleck’s Forgotten Sci-Fi Flop Officially Scores a Surprising Streaming Comeback

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Ben Affleck on the red carpet for 'The Rip'

Published Nov 1, 2026, 4:20 AM 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.

2026 has been a busy year for Ben Affleck, who is widely known and celebrated as one of the most prominent actors, producers, and directors in Hollywood. Affleck reunited with his long-time collaborator and friend Matt Damon much earlier in the year for the Netflix original crime thriller, The Rip, which still holds up as one of the most-watched movies of 2026 on the platform. Affleck returned to Netflix not long ago with the debut of Animals, the kidnapping thriller he also directs, in addition to starring opposite Kerry Washington and Steven Yeun. Affleck is also expected to reprise his role as Christian Wolff in a third Accountant movie with Jon Bernthal, but at the time of writing in late October, there’s no word yet on when the movie will be released, or even when it will begin shooting.

For any movie star like Ben Affleck who’s been in movies for the better part of the last 40 years, it’s only natural for there to be some misfires mixed in with the many hits. For Affleck, one of his biggest mistakes came just a few years ago when he teamed up with Alice Braga for Hypnotic, the sci-fi thriller that cost $70 million to make. Braga can also be seen starring as Amanda Lucas in both seasons of the Apple TV sci-fi series, Dark Matter. Hypnotic eked out only $16 million at the box office, making it one of the biggest flops of Affleck’s career. Three years removed from Hypnotic’s underwhelming theatrical run, the film has found a home streaming on Hulu in America, and it’s also been in the VOD top 10 for over 30 days now on platforms like Prime Video and Apple TV.

What Is ‘Hypnotic’ About?

In addition to Affleck and Braga, Hypnotic also stars Dayo Okeniyi, who also has a critical role in Apple TV’s Dark Matter as Leighton Vance. The film was written by Max Borenstein and Robert Rodriguez, who also stepped behind the camera to direct after Affleck turned down directing the film. The official synopsis for Hypnotic, which earned a poor 32% from critics but a decent 62% from audiences on Rotten Tomatoes, reads as follows:

“Determined to find his missing daughter, Austin detective Danny Rourke finds himself spiraling down a rabbit hole investigating a series of reality-bending crimes where he will ultimately call into question his most basic assumptions about everything and everyone in his world. Aided by Diana Cruz, a gifted psychic, Rourke simultaneously pursues and is pursued by a lethal specter — the one man he believes holds the key to finding the missing girl — only to discover more than he ever bargained for.”

Check out Hypnotic on Hulu and stay tuned to Collider for more updates and coverage of Ben Affleck’s future projects.