Mulan tops most-trending movies globally with 61% preference in most countries

Ruth C. | October 22, 2020

The worldwide pandemic has not stopped the movie industry, but it has definitely changed the movie consuming habits. With more people spending time at home we were curious to see what movies people across the world are choosing for their entertainment.

We took the top 100 most popular movies according to IMDB and cross-referenced them with Google Trends data from October of 2020 to see which movies are trending globally. The countries where data was unavailable or inefficient were excluded from the list while any region with its own specific data in Google Trends was treated as a separate country.

According to Atlas VPN analysis, Mulan, a live-action adaptation of Disney's 1998 animated film released this autumn, is the most popular movie in the world right now.

The Disney remake, which is available on Disney+, tops the charts in 53 out of 87 countries across Europe, North and South America, Oceania, and Africa, where data was collected. In other words, Mulan is a movie of choice in 61% of countries worldwide analyzed in the research.

The first movie in the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001), comes in second in the list. It is the most searched for in 28 countries (32%) across the world.

The rest of the six countries have unique preferences. Indians most favor the movie from their home country — a newly released Hindi romantic comedy Ginny Weds Sunny (2020).

Estonia and Albania prefer the classics. Pulp Fiction (1994) is the most searched for movie in Estonia, while The Godfather is the movie of choice in (1972) in Albania.

Israelis are most interested in the academy-award winning comedy drama Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019), while Japanese are searching the web for Marvel Studios Avengers: Endgame (2019).

The United States has Halloween fever

While the world is crazy about Mulan, the United States is all about Halloween movies. The research found that in the US Halloween themed films make up 50% of movies that are trending this month.

Tim Burton’s stop-motion animated film The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) tops the charts as this month's favorite in the states. The movie is number one in 24 (47%) of US states and can be watched on Disney+.

The states where the movie is trending include Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Idaho, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Vermont.

Another Tim Burton’s Halloween classic, Beetlejuice (1988), is the second most popular movie in the US right now. This American fantasy comedy is favored in 19 (37%) states.

The states where Beetlejuice movie is trending include Alaska, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming.

Just as in the rest of the world, Mulan movie is also trending in the US. A total of 5 states (10%), District of Columbia, Georgia, Mississippi, Montana, and New York favor Mulan over other movies.

Movie trends in North Dakota, Delaware, and Kansas deviated from the rest of the US states this October. Hubie Halloween (2020) is trending in North Dakota, The Karate Kid (1984) is favored in Delaware, while Kansas residents are most interested in the latest movie in the American Pie series, American Pie Presents: Girls' Rules (2020).