J.J. Abrams has had a busy year, returning to the sci-fi genre as a producer on The End of Oak Street, starring Anne Hathaway and Ewan McGregor. That film, directed by David Robert Mitchell, grossed around $120 million worldwide against a reported $80 million budget, but it didn't quite break even due to the usual studio-exhibitor revenue split. In the lead-up to its release, rumors swirled that it was secretly a Cloverfield installment, much like another Abrams-produced film from 2018. Neither turned out to be part of that anthology, but both are now available to watch at home.
While The End of Oak Street is currently in its premium video-on-demand phase, the 2018 movie is streaming on Paramount+. Directed by Julius Avery, who later helmed the hit horror The Pope's Exorcist, this film was made on a reported $38 million budget but only grossed about $42 million worldwide—a disappointment compared to the two official Cloverfield movies and even The End of Oak Street's lifetime haul.
We're talking about Overlord, a genre-blending thrill ride set on the eve of D-Day. The plot follows a squad of American soldiers who stumble upon a Nazi-occupied castle where horrific human experiments are taking place. With a cast including Jovan Adepo, Wyatt Russell, John Magaro, and Pilou Asbæk, the film earned mostly positive reviews and holds a "Certified Fresh" 82% score on Rotten Tomatoes. The critics' consensus calls it "part revisionist war drama, part zombie thriller, and part all-out genre gorefest," offering "A-level fun for B-movie fans of multiple persuasions."
If you haven't seen Overlord yet, now's the time. It's currently streaming on Paramount+, but it will be removed from the platform on November 1. That's not all—the same day also sees the departure of 10 Cloverfield Lane and Abrams' own sci-fi hit Super 8. So if you're in the mood for a triple feature of Abrams-produced or directed sci-fi, you have just a few weeks to binge them all.
For fans of near-perfect thrillers, Overlord is a must-watch. It's a rare blend of war movie and horror that keeps you on the edge of your seat from start to finish. The practical effects and tense atmosphere make it stand out in Abrams' filmography, even if it didn't get the box office love it deserved.
If you're looking for more sci-fi to fill the void after Overlord leaves, you might want to check out this 90s sci-fi thriller that deserves a second look. Or, if you're in the mood for something completely different, Netflix's Poldark is also leaving soon, so you might want to plan your binge-watching accordingly.
Stay tuned to ShowtimeSpot for more updates on what's leaving and arriving on your favorite streaming platforms. And don't miss your last chance to experience Overlord—a cult classic that proves Abrams can deliver thrills even when he's not in the director's chair.
