In recent years, Amazon Prime Video has grown to become one of the most popular streaming services, with millions of people checking in to watch their favorite movies and TV episodes. Amazon Prime Video provides its users with a diverse choice of entertainment, including award-winning original series, classic movies, and documentaries. But what are the platform’s biggest hits? Which series and movies have captivated audiences and become fan favorites? In this article, we’ll look at Amazon Prime’s biggest blockbusters, delving into the most popular and highly acclaimed titles that have helped the platform establish itself as a key force in the world of streaming.
1. Fleabag (2016)
Fleabag is a British comedy-drama TV series created by Phoebe Waller-Bridge. Waller-Bridge plays the title character, a free-spirited yet furious and confused young lady from London. Sian Clifford portrays her sister, and Andrew Scott joins the cast as ‘Hot Priest’ in the second series. The show debuted on July 21, 2016, and ended its second and final season on April 8, 2019. It gained great accolades for its narrative, performance, and the title character’s originality. The protagonist often breaks the fourth wall to address the viewer. Waller-Bridge received a British Academy Television Award, and the show received several Emmy and Golden Globe nominations. The second series was nominated for 11 Primetime Emmy Awards and won six of them, including Outstanding Comedy Series, Outstanding Lead Actress, and Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series. Many critics and viewers regard it as one of the best comedies of all time.
2. Transparent (2014)
Transparent is an American comedy-drama streaming television series about the Pfeffermans, a Los Angeles family who discovers their parent is a trans woman named Maura. The show delves into Maura’s coming out and her family’s personal journeys of establishing their own identities and accepting Maura’s. In the Pfefferman family, Transparent allows for other queer representation, with Sarah exploring her sexuality and Ali investigating their gender and sexuality. The series debuted on Amazon Studios in 2014 and ran for four seasons before concluding with a feature-length conclusion in 2019. The comedy-drama earned several awards, including a Golden Globe for Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy and a Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for Jeffrey Tambor’s depiction of Maura. Tambor was then accused of sexual harassment on the set, which led to his dismissal from the program. The Transparent: Musicale Finale addressed Tambor’s character’s death and investigated the lives of the Pfefferman family through music.
3. Homecoming (2018)
Homecoming is a psychological thriller TV series based on the same-name podcast. It was conceived by Eli Horowitz and Micah Bloomberg, who also wrote and produced the show, and debuted on Amazon Prime Video in November 2018. The first season was directed by Sam Esmail and starred Julia Roberts, Bobby Cannavale, Stephan James, Shea Whigham, Alex Karpovsky, and Sissy Spacek. The second season, directed by Kyle Patrick Alvarez and starring Janelle Monáe, Chris Cooper, and Joan Cusack, included a new tale and characters. Heidi Bergman, a former social worker at the Homecoming Transitional Support Center, a facility that assists troops in their transition to civilian life, is the focus of the show. Bergman tries to remember her experience at the facility after leaving her work and establishing a new life. When a government auditor begins questioning Bergman about her departure, she begins to learn the truth about the center’s true purpose.
4. The Boys (2019)
The Boys is an American superhero television series that follows a group of vigilantes as they battle superpowered individuals who abuse their powers. The series, based on the comic book of the same name, was created by Eric Kripke and stars Karl Urban, Jack Quaid, and Eriarty Moriarty. The series adaptation, which was originally planned to be a film, began development in 2008. However, it was shelved owing to creative disputes. Cinemax restored and updated it into a TV series in 2016. Amazon Prime Video acquired the series’ rights in 2017, and filming began in 2018. The first season premiered on July 26, 2019, with the second and third seasons following in 2020 and 2022, respectively. The series has received accolades for its writing, humor, plot, and performances, and it has been nominated for various awards, including six Emmys in 2021. It has also inspired a web series spin-off, an animated anthology series, and a second live-action TV series.
5. The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (2017)
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is a television comedy-drama set in the 1950s and 1960s. Midge Maisel, a housewife in New York, realizes her ability for stand-up comedy and chooses to pursue a career in it. Midge’s ascent to stardom as a stand-up comedy is chronicled in the series, as are the hurdles she confronts along the way, such as discrimination against female comics and a constant balancing act between her job and family life. Midge is taught throughout the series by Susie Myerson, a tough-talking manager who recognizes her natural ability and befriends Lenny Bruce, a comic who was also convicted for using obscenity. The series has gained widespread praise, winning multiple honors for its cast and crew, and its fifth and last season will air in April 2023.
6. The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (2022)
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is an American fantasy television series created by Amazon Studios in collaboration with New Line Cinema that is based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s book named The Lord of the Rings and its appendices. The trilogy takes place thousands of years before Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, depicting major events in Middle-earth’s Second Age. The series showrunners, J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay were hired in July 2018, and the series was shot in New Zealand from February 2020 to August 2021, with subsequent seasons being shot in the United Kingdom. Amazon purchased The Lord of the Rings television rights from the Tolkien Estate in 2017, establishing a five-season commitment valued at least $1 billion. The series is mostly based on The Lord of the Rings appendices, and Tolkien’s grandson Simon Tolkien was involved in the development process.
7. Three Pines (2022)
Three Pines is an Amazon Prime Video miniseries based on Louise Penny’s novel series, starring Alfred Molina as Chief Inspector Armand Gamache. The show, which debuted on December 2, 2022, is made up of four murder mysteries, each lasting two episodes. Gamache investigates a string of killings in Three Pines, a small community in Quebec, Canada, uncovering buried mysteries while addressing his own past. The show also incorporates a secondary plot regarding the disappearance of a young woman that is not found in the novels. Three Pines was revealed in March 2023 that it would remain a miniseries and would not be revived for a second season.
8. Goliath (2016)
Goliath is an American legal drama streaming television series produced by Amazon Studios that launched on Amazon Prime Video on October 13, 2016. It tells the narrative of Billy McBride, a down-and-out lawyer played by Billy Bob Thornton, who seeks atonement in a court system where truth has become a commodity and justice has become rare. On December 1, 2015, the show received an eight-episode straight-to-series order, and on February 15, 2017, it was ordered for a second season. Clyde Phillips joined as showrunner for the second season, which debuted on June 15, 2018. On December 11, 2018, the show was renewed for a third season, which premiered on October 4, 2019, and then for a fourth and final season, which began on September 24, 2021, on November 14, 2019. Ally McBeal and The Practice creator David E. Kelly co-created the show, which has been hailed for its superb performances, particularly by Thornton, and its depiction of the obstacles faced by individuals seeking justice in a corrupt legal system.
9. The Underground Railroad (2021)
The award-winning limited television series The Underground Railroad is based on Colson Whitehead’s 2016 novel of the same name. The series, created and directed by Barry Jenkins, launched on Amazon Prime Video on May 14, 2021. The series is a fictitious account of enslaved African-Americans seeking to flee slavery in the 1800s in the Southern United States. It employs a magical realism literary style in which the Underground Railroad is converted into a genuine railroad complete with engineers, conductors, tracks, and tunnels. Cora, an enslaved woman from Georgia, joins newcomer Caesar on a perilous trip to take the subterranean train to freedom. The series depicts the atrocities of slavery, the bravery of those who fought against it, and the human spirit’s persistence in the face of adversity.
10. Invincible (2021)
Invincible is an animated superhero television series that recounts the narrative of 17-year-old Mark Grayson, who transforms into a superhero with the help of his father, Omni-Man, the world’s most powerful superhero. The Amazon Prime Video series, developed by Robert Kirkman, is based on the Image Comics series of the same name. As Mark juggles his personal life and his new superhero responsibilities, he realizes that being a hero is not always simple, and he must prove that he can live up to his father’s heritage. The cast of the show includes Steven Yeun, Sandra Oh, and J.K. Simmons. The Grayson family is played by K. Simmons, with the rest of the ensemble serving as recurrent characters.
In conclusion, Amazon Prime has produced some of the most innovative and popular television series in recent memory. Amazon Prime has something for every viewer, thanks to its vast range of genres and stories. It will be interesting to see what future hits the platform brings as it continues to push the boundaries of storytelling and production in the ever-changing world of streaming television.