RANKED

100 Most Popular Sci-Fi Titles

IMDb · August 2026 · Film and television, ranked by current popularity

Reading this list added 6 works to the catalogue. Of its 100 entries, 38 could not be assessed — unreleased or unread — and are marked with a dash rather than guessed at.

1999 The Matrix · Assigned meaning
2011 Fifteen Million Merits · Manufactured scarcity
2011 Person of Interest · Allocated labour
2017 Blade Runner 2049 · Capital captures it
2022 Severance · Assigned meaning
2023 Silo · Allocated labour

How it was compiled. IMDb ranks by live user activity — page views and engagement in the recent past — rather than by rating or all-time standing. It is a measure of what people are looking at this week.

What it brings. The first source to cover film and television at scale, and the origin of The Matrix, Person of Interest and Silo in the catalogue. It tracks live attention rather than standing, so a third of it was unreleased when read and is marked with a dash.

#	Work	Year	AGI	Answers	What people do all day
1	Spider-Man: Brand New Day Destin Daniel Cretton	2026	—	—	Not assessed — unread.
2	Masters of the Universe Travis Knight	2026	—	—	Not assessed — unread.
3	Spider-Man: No Way Home Jon Watts	2021	No	No	Fight, and repair a spell.
4	Disclosure Day —	2026	—	—	Not assessed — unread.
5	Silo Graham Yost	2023	No	Yes	Every resident holds an assigned trade for life — mechanic, porter, farmer, IT — in a shaft they will never leave. Children are permitted by lottery. The one job nobody volunteers for is cleaning.
6	Project Hail Mary Lord & Miller	2026	—	—	Not assessed — unread.
7	Backrooms Kane Parsons	2026	—	—	Not assessed — unread.
8	Supergirl Craig Gillespie	2026	—	—	Not assessed — unread.
9	Spider-Man: Homecoming Jon Watts	2017	No	No	School, and stopping an arms dealer.
10	Stuart Fails to Save the Universe Chuck Lorre	2026	—	—	Not assessed — unread.
11	Rick and Morty Harmon & Roiland	2013	Partial	Partial	Mostly adventure. But the butter robot asking what its purpose is, and being told, is the sharpest thirty seconds on assigned purpose in any of these.
12	Wicker —	2026	—	—	Not assessed — unread.
13	Mortal Kombat II Simon McQuoid	2026	—	—	Not assessed — unread.
14	Soulm8te Kate Dolan	2026	—	—	Not assessed — unread.
15	Avengers: Doomsday Russo brothers	2026	—	—	Not assessed — unread.
16	Spider-Man: Far from Home Jon Watts	2019	No	No	A school trip, interrupted.
17	Interstellar Christopher Nolan	2014	Yes	Partial	The opening premise is a society that reassigned everyone to farming and stopped needing engineers — then the film leaves it behind for the mission.
18	Leviticus —	2026	—	—	Not assessed — unread.
19	Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Goldsman, Lumbly & Myers	2022	Partial	Partial	Post-scarcity Starfleet, where everyone works because they chose to — asserted constantly and shown rarely.
20	Spider-Man Sam Raimi	2002	No	No	Photography, and swinging.
21	The Mandalorian and Grogu Jon Favreau	2026	—	—	Not assessed — unread.
22	The Prestige Christopher Nolan	2006	No	No	Rehearse, sabotage, repeat.
23	From John Griffin	2022	No	No	Survive a town nobody can leave.
24	The End of Oak Street —	2026	—	—	Not assessed — unread.
25	Colony —	2026	—	—	Not assessed — unread.
26	Inception Christopher Nolan	2010	No	Partial	Extraction is a genuinely new profession — corporate espionage conducted in dreams, with specialists, freelancers and a labour market.
27	Tenet Christopher Nolan	2020	No	No	Espionage, backwards.
28	Lanterns Chris Mundy	2026	—	—	Not assessed — unread.
29	Stranger Things Duffer brothers	2016	No	No	School, and a parallel dimension.
30	The Boys Eric Kripke	2019	No	Partial	Superheroes are salaried employees of a corporation with a marketing department, a legal team and quarterly targets.
31	Batman: Caped Crusader Bruce Timm	2024	No	No	Detective work, at night.
32	X-Men '97 Beau DeMayo	2024	Partial	No	Fight for a world that hates you.
33	Neuromancer Graham Roland	2027	—	—	Not assessed — unread.
34	Heroes Tim Kring	2006	No	No	Discover a power, then use it.
35	The Amazing Spider-Man Marc Webb	2012	No	No	School, and a reptile.
36	Spider-Noir Oren Uziel	2026	—	—	Not assessed — unread.
37	Severance Dan Erickson	2022	No	Yes	Sort numbers that feel wrong, on a terminal, in a windowless basement, forever. The innie has no life outside the task.
38	Avengers: Endgame Russo brothers	2019	Partial	No	Grieve, then undo it.
39	Avatar: Fire and Ash James Cameron	2025	No	No	Defend a moon.
40	Thunderbolts* Jake Schreier	2025	No	No	Black operations, reluctantly.
41	Person of Interest Jonathan Nolan	2011	Yes	Yes	The Machine issues a social security number each week and explains nothing. Two men spend their lives acting on instructions from a system whose reasoning they cannot audit and whose judgement they come to trust.
42	Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Persichetti, Powers & Thompson	2023	No	No	Multiversal policing.
43	Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die Gore Verbinski	2025	Yes	—	Not assessed — unread.
44	Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse Persichetti, Ramsey & Rothman	2018	No	No	School, and six other Spider-People.
45	The Boroughs Duffer brothers	2026	—	—	Not assessed — unread.
46	Master of the Universe —	2026	—	—	Not assessed — unread.
47	Daredevil: Born Again Dario Scardapane	2025	No	No	Law by day, violence by night.
48	Spider-Man 2 Sam Raimi	2004	No	No	Deliver pizza, fail at university, quit being Spider-Man, resume.
49	Ann Droid —	2026	—	—	Not assessed — unread.
50	The Dog Stars Ridley Scott	2026	—	—	Not assessed — unread.
51	Black Mirror Charlie Brooker	2011	Yes	Yes	Varies by episode. 'Fifteen Million Merits' is the one that answers this directly: pedal a bike to earn credits, spend credits on media and on skipping the adverts you cannot otherwise switch off.
52	Daredevil Drew Goddard	2015	No	No	Law by day, violence by night.
53	The Fantastic Four: First Steps Matt Shakman	2025	Partial	No	Science, and a space god.
54	Masters of the Universe Gary Goddard	1987	No	No	Swordfighting in New Jersey.
55	Mortal Kombat Simon McQuoid	2021	No	No	Train, then fight.
56	Avengers: Infinity War Russo brothers	2018	No	No	Lose.
57	Rose of Nevada Mark Jenkin	2025	—	—	Not assessed — unread.
58	Dune: Part One Denis Villeneuve	2021	Banned	Partial	Full employment by prohibition: Mentats, Guild Navigators, Bene Gesserit, spice harvesting.
59	Spider-Man 3 Sam Raimi	2007	No	No	Photography, dancing, revenge.
60	The Amazing Spider-Man 2 Marc Webb	2014	No	No	Graduation, and electricity.
61	Dark Matter Blake Crouch	2024	No	No	Teach physics; regret the road not taken.
62	Paradise Dan Fogelman	2025	—	—	Not assessed — unread.
63	Superman James Gunn	2025	Partial	No	Journalism, and rescue.
64	Blade Runner 2099 Silka Luisa	2026	—	—	Not assessed — unread.
65	War Machine —	2026	—	—	Not assessed — unread.
66	Lost Abrams, Lieber & Lindelof	2004	No	No	Survive an island; press a button every 108 minutes.
67	Pluribus Vince Gilligan	2025	—	—	Not assessed — unread.
68	The Last Ship Steven Kane & Hank Steinberg	2014	No	No	Sail, and look for a cure.
69	Her Private Hell —	2026	—	—	Not assessed — unread.
70	Dune: Part Two Denis Villeneuve	2024	Banned	Partial	Fremen labour: harvest water, ride worms, fight a holy war.
71	For All Mankind Moore, Nedivi & Wolpert	2019	No	Partial	An alternate space race that never ends, so the work never ends either. The series is unusually interested in careers, promotions and what a life inside one institution costs.
72	Resident Evil —	2026	—	—	Not assessed — unread.
73	Bugonia Yorgos Lanthimos	2025	No	No	Kidnap a chief executive; test a theory.
74	X-Men Bryan Singer	2000	No	No	Attend a school; resist a senator.
75	Captain America: Civil War Russo brothers	2016	Partial	No	Argue about oversight, then fight about it.
76	Deadpool & Wolverine Shawn Levy	2024	No	No	Sell used cars, briefly.
77	Dark Baran bo Odar & Jantje Friese	2017	No	No	Small-town life, in four time periods at once.
78	Loki Michael Waldron	2021	Partial	Partial	The Time Variance Authority is a vast clerical bureaucracy whose staff process timelines forever, believing they were created for the purpose. Several of them were abducted and had their memories removed.
79	Cold Storage Jonny Campbell	2026	—	—	Not assessed — unread.
80	The Last of Us Mazin & Druckmann	2023	No	No	Walk west; ration bullets.
81	Avengers: Secret Wars Russo brothers	2027	—	—	Not assessed — unread.
82	The Handmaid's Tale Bruce Miller	2017	No	No	Assigned reproductive and domestic labour, under a theocracy with no automation to speak of.
83	President Curtis —	2026	—	—	Not assessed — unread.
84	The X Files Chris Carter	1993	No	No	Federal casework, mostly at night.
85	Wonder Man Destin Daniel Cretton	2026	—	—	Not assessed — unread.
86	Smallville Gough & Millar	2001	No	No	Farm chores, school, secret rescues.
87	Blade Runner 2049 Denis Villeneuve	2017	Yes	Yes	K does police drudgery and files reports. Replicants farm protein grubs in the dust. Companionship is a subscription product with an advertising tier.
88	Dune: Part Three Denis Villeneuve	2026	—	—	Not assessed — unread.
89	Descendants: Wicked Wonderland —	2026	—	—	Not assessed — unread.
90	The Running Man Edgar Wright	2025	No	Partial	In an economy with no work left, the remaining career is to be hunted on television for money.
91	Iron Man Jon Favreau	2008	Partial	No	Manufacture weapons, then stop.
92	The Martian Ridley Scott	2015	No	No	Grow potatoes, patch a habitat, do arithmetic by hand.
93	Avengers Assemble Joss Whedon	2012	No	No	Assemble.
94	Invincible Robert Kirkman	2021	No	No	Finish school; inherit a superpower.
95	Hope —	2026	—	—	Not assessed — unread.
96	Fallout Wagner & Robertson-Dworet	2024	Partial	Partial	Vault residents hold assigned roles under a corporate charter, running social experiments they were never told about. Above ground, scavenging.
97	The Matrix The Wachowskis	1999	Yes	Yes	A cubicle job, a commute, a landlord. The simulation's entire content is an ordinary working life, supplied so that the bodies producing power do not notice they are producing it.
98	Hoppers Daniel Chong	2026	—	—	Not assessed — unread.
99	American Horror Story Murphy & Falchuk	2011	No	No	Not science fiction. Included by the chart, not by me.
100	Superman Richard Donner	1978	No	No	Journalism, and rescue.

Linked titles are in the catalogue. Partial means the work gestures at the question without sustaining it.

Source

This list was not compiled with this question in mind, which is the point of using it. The verdicts and the daily-life summaries are mine and arguable: the Answers column has no bright line, andPartial is where the disagreement lives.

IMDb: 100 Most Popular Sci-Fi Titles →